Error on Ch.4 Quiz of Prep Guide

[jaliu]

The answer to number 3 says 'A' is correct when they are actually referring to choice 'B'. Choice 'A' clearly has no '.' in the procedure. This is not mentioned in the errors doc.

I'm really unimpressed with this company and think the exam questions are inappropriate given the fact that even SAS reps are unable to comprehend questions and answers.

[ballardw]

Since there are absolutely no details, such as which prep guide, who published it, when was it published, page number or question question number to reference, I would say your comment could use some supporting details.

[jaliu]

The official SAS certified specialist prep guide. published by SAS.

[Panagiotis]

There are multiple editions. Can you please provide the edition, lesson, page number, question number etc. 

[jaliu]

2019 edition which should be the newest. Chapter 4, question #3. Page 56.

[Panagiotis]

So I'm guessing that's the fifth edition? Look at the cover and let us know the edition. My guess it's this question? Which program correctly imports only the first seven observations from the external file?

Go to page 42. Near the bottom of that page the main section is Reading and Verifying Data. Then go to the subsection Verifying the Code that Reads the Data.

It says:

Before you read a complete external file, you can verify the code that reads the data by limiting the number of observations that SAS reads. You can use the OPTIONS statement with the OBS= option before the IMPORT procedure to limit the number of observations that SAS reads from your external file.

Right below that is the code

options obs=5;
proc import datafile="C:\Users\Student1\cert\boot.csv";
...

It's the exact answer to your question.

- Peter

[jaliu]

The solution says you need the delimeter '.' when the choice does not contain the '.' Clearly they are referring to the wrong letter choice.

[Panagiotis]

Again, you never said what EDITION you are using. It's on the front cover. I'm guessing the fifth edition textbook since you said 2019?

In an earlier post I said:

So I'm guessing that's the fifth edition? Look at the cover and let us know the edition. My guess it's this question? Which program correctly imports only the first seven observations from the external file?

You never confirmed this. You need to be 100% clear when posting on forums. I'm only guessing which question you are on. Because I have the fifth edition, the question above is Chapter 4, question #3. Page 56 like you mentioned. So are you now talking about another question now? The question I'm looking at has feedback that has nothing to do with a delimiter. It says:

Use the OBS= option in the OPTIONS statement before the IMPORT procedure to limit the number of observations that SAS reads from the external file. When you use the OBS= option in the PROC PRINT statement, the whole file is imported but printing is limited to the number of observations specified.

- Peter

[jaliu]

There is no edition on the cover or inside page! It is the one currently provided by SAS at the moment.

[Tom]

Does the place you get the prep guide and or quiz include a feedback link for reporting simple typos?

Does it include a link to any known issues that have already been identified since the last update to the documents?

[Tom]

So combining together the information you have provided across multiple posts it looks like B is the right answer to the question in your photograph (not sure if there are other possibly better answers beyond C, the last one you posted)

Can you think of other things you might need to know or ask related to this question?

Spoiler

What is the meaning of "import seven lines"? Is that seven lines including the header line, so 6 observations? Or 7 observations of data, so 8 lines if the file has a header row? 

Who considers PROC IMPORT as a "correct" way to generate data from a text file?  PROC IMPORT has the GUESS what to name the variables, what types to use for the variables, what maximum length to define for the character variables. What informat (if any) to use to read the variables.  What format (if any) to attach to the variables.  If you want to create a dataset from a text file write your own data step to read the file.

Who delimits a file with period?  Comma is popular (hence the extension of CSV for comma separated values), Semi-colon is popular in locales where commas are used for representing decimal point, Tabs are common. Pipe (|) is common.  Space is normally NOT use for delimited files, instead files with spaces are typically fixed length

Who uses the OBS= system option to limit reading of lines from TEXT files? I have never seen OBS= used this way in 30+ years of using SAS.  Typically you use OBS= system option to limit the number of observations read or written to SAS datasets, not text files.  I have frequently used the OBS= option on an INFILE statement to limit the number of lines read from a text file.

[jaliu]

Yes, I try to ask myself those types of questions. I think the biggest problem with this book is that the answers don't even explain why the wrong choices are incorrect. And then there are weird things like you mentioned that just confuse someone. And maybe that is their intention but sometimes I think it backfires if their true goal is to prepare students (and might not be).