Statistical Analysis System (SAS) Programming Certification Practice Exam 2026 - Free SAS Practice Questions and Study Guide

In SAS, the _ERROR_ variable plays a key role in indicating whether an error has occurred during the execution of a DATA step. When an error is encountered in the DATA step, _ERROR_ is set to 1; this signifies that at least one error has occurred. If no errors are encountered during the DATA step execution, _ERROR_ is set to 0.

When an error occurs multiple times within the same DATA step, _ERROR_ remains set to 1 throughout the processing of that entire DATA step. This behavior ensures that the programmer or analyst is aware that one or more errors affected the processing of the data.

It’s important to note that _ERROR_ does not increment or change its value beyond 1 even if multiple errors occur. Therefore, if an error occurs, regardless of how many times it happens in that step, _ERROR_ will consistently reflect the occurrence of an error by being set to 1 until the step completes.

Understanding this behavior is crucial for debugging and data quality checks in SAS programming, as it clearly indicates the presence of errors that need to be addressed before the data can be considered reliable.