Base Certification Exam Specialist = I am getting confused

[mava]

Good Evening, 

I am studying for the above exam.  W/in my 20 yrs of using SAS, I never had to use the VALIDVARNAME option. 

I am stuck on this section in the 5th Edition of the Review book.  And have some questions. 

1.  If anyone took the exam, do they ask about every VALIDVARNAME option? 

2.  What is the difference between VALIDVARNAME and VALIDMEMNAME?

I need to get beyond this.   I looked stuff up, but need the 2nd question answered in simple - very simple terms.  

Thank you, MaVA

[japelin · Accepted solution]

1. I don't remember. 

But it seems that the questions are not the same every time, so they may or may not come up.

2.The VALIDVARNAME=system option specifies the rules for valid SAS variable names, and
VALIDMEMNAME=system option specifies the rules for naming SAS data sets, SAS data views, and item stores.

This might make it easier to understand.

- VALIDVARNAME -> Valid Var Name -> Valid Variable Name

- VALIDMEMNAME -> Valid Mem Name -> Valid Member Name

https://documentation.sas.com/doc/en/pgmsascdc/9.4_3.5/lesysoptsref/p124dqdk8zoqu3n1r4nsfqu5vx52.htm 

https://documentation.sas.com/doc/en/pgmsascdc/9.4_3.5/lesysoptsref/n10nwm6blrcrtmn0zdcwyxlwxfjh.htm