topic Re: Validvarname=ANY can contain numerics? in Programming 1 and 2

Validvarname=ANY can contain numerics?

jaliu — Sun, 29 Aug 2021 14:38:45 GMT

With the system option VALIDVARNAME=ANY, which of the following variable
names is valid?
a. 4BirthDate
b. $Cost
c. Tax-Rate
d. all of the above

The answer is 'd' but i cannot use A as a variable name and the rules don't state that a number can be included.

Re: Validvarname=ANY can contain numerics?

jaliu — Sun, 29 Aug 2021 14:45:56 GMT

Actually none of the options are working.

Re: Validvarname=ANY can contain numerics?

PaigeMiller — Sun, 29 Aug 2021 14:57:11 GMT

You can't use it?

Did you enclose the variable names in quotes and follow it with the letter N? These won't work unless you do that.

If that's not it, then show us the LOG (all of it) so we can see what you did and what the error message is. Please copy the log as text and paste it into the window that appears when you click on the </> icon. DO NOT SKIP THE PART IN RED.

Re: Validvarname=ANY can contain numerics?

jaliu — Sun, 29 Aug 2021 14:58:29 GMT

not sure what you mean by window with </> icon, but here's the log:

options validvarname=V7;

data testdata ;

set '/home/u49936438/Cert/input/input08b.sas7bdat';

NOTE: Data file _TEMP4.INPUT08B.DATA is in a format that is native to another host, or the file encoding does not match the session

encoding. Cross Environment Data Access will be used, which might require additional CPU resources and might reduce

performance.

Tax-Rate = 50;

___

180

ERROR 180-322: Statement is not valid or it is used out of proper order.

----

it says something about format, could that be the problem? for some reason i'm unable to use paths to folders on my computer so i have to find a workaround.

Re: Validvarname=ANY can contain numerics?

PaigeMiller — Sun, 29 Aug 2021 15:00:05 GMT

The </> icon is in the row of icons immediately above where you type your text. Please re-post your log following the instructions.

Re: Validvarname=ANY can contain numerics?

jaliu — Sun, 29 Aug 2021 15:05:37 GMT

Ok, so I tried it with quotation marks and the n. BUT, what I'm wondering is why the guide doesn't book doesn't even mention this...

Also it doesn't mention we can use numbers so I'm confused if by the word characters that includes numbers?

Thanks

Re: Validvarname=ANY can contain numerics?

PaigeMiller — Sun, 29 Aug 2021 15:07:39 GMT

I don't know what guide book you mean. It's clearly mentioned in the SAS documentation.

Any time you have a variable that doesn't comply with the SAS variable naming rules, you need VALIDVARNAME=ANY and then enclose the variable name in quotes and follow it with the letter N.

Re: Validvarname=ANY can contain numerics?

jaliu — Sun, 29 Aug 2021 15:15:07 GMT

It's the prep guide for the exam.

Thank you.

Re: Validvarname=ANY can contain numerics?

PaigeMiller — Sun, 29 Aug 2021 15:16:14 GMT

Could you please provide a URL or exact name of this guide?

Re: Validvarname=ANY can contain numerics?

jaliu — Sun, 29 Aug 2021 15:44:44 GMT

SAS Certified Specialist Prep Guide

(subtitle) Base Programming Using SAS 9.4

Re: Validvarname=ANY can contain numerics?

PaigeMiller — Sun, 29 Aug 2021 17:19:06 GMT

I don't have this book. So I can't answer any questions about it.

Re: Validvarname=ANY can contain numerics?

Tom — Sun, 29 Aug 2021 18:45:03 GMT

@jaliu wrote:

SAS Certified Specialist Prep Guide

(subtitle) Base Programming Using SAS 9.4

This book? https://sasinstitute.redshelf.com/book/1830659

Did you check the errata page? https://support.sas.com/content/dam/SAS/support/en/books/errata-base-certified.pdf

Re: Validvarname=ANY can contain numerics?

jaliu — Sun, 29 Aug 2021 19:17:30 GMT

No, but thank you for pointing this out. I couldn't get the practice data to load and i'm surprised they made such an egregious mistake with the instructions in the published book.

Re: Validvarname=ANY can contain numerics?

jaliu — Mon, 30 Aug 2021 00:01:43 GMT

Also here is where i really dislike the exam questions. I know it doesn't apply to this questions, but if there were no all of the above choice I would have thought that the options needed the quotation marks and n in order to be valid names. Maybe it's not technically asking for syntax, but I could easily see the question being unclear.

Re: Validvarname=ANY can contain numerics?

Tom — Mon, 30 Aug 2021 01:14:33 GMT

@jaliu wrote:

Also here is where i really dislike the exam questions. I know it doesn't apply to this questions, but if there were no all of the above choice I would have thought that the options needed the quotation marks and n in order to be valid names. Maybe it's not technically asking for syntax, but I could easily see the question being unclear.

It is a subtle distinction. If you look at printouts, say from PROC CONTENTS, and metadata tables, like DICTIONARY.COLUMNS, you will see that the names are just the text that is like the text in the question. It is only when trying to reference the variable in CODE that you need to use the name literals. That is to avoid confusing the SAS compiler that you indented something other than a name. For example if you had a variable named "457" and typed just 457 into the code the compiler would see a numeric constant instead of a variable. So the name literals are required when the name does not follow the "V7" rules.

Re: Validvarname=ANY can contain numerics?

jaliu — Mon, 30 Aug 2021 11:49:24 GMT

This is a very good explanation, but the book does not say this. Maybe you should write one.

I'm realizing that the prep book is not a good tool.

Re: Validvarname=ANY can contain numerics?

Panagiotis — Mon, 30 Aug 2021 13:03:45 GMT

By default, SAS has column naming rules. You can change that with the VALIDVARNAME= option. If you get a question wrong, it's best to do further research. For example, for the question you posted you have multiple options:

1. First is to reread about that option in the certification book. I'm not sure what version you have, but the the version I'm looking at explains what VALIDVARNAME= does. It's in Chapter 2 - Basic Concepts. It takes up an entire page. For the version i'm looking at start on page 12 "Rules for SAS Names".

2. You can also read the quick feedback they give you for a question at the end of the book. It quickly explains why something is correct. Here it explains that if you use the option ANY, the name can begin with or contain any characters, including blanks, national characters, special characters, and multi-byte character. That's the feedback for the exact question you posted.

3. Lastly, go to the documentation for the full option. Here is the doc for the option: https://go.documentation.sas.com/doc/en/pgmsascdc/9.4_3.5/engfedsrv/p1ffkpdm6kbjawn1wvfpgzuzjcbg.htm

- Peter