A SAS developer writes a macro that calls %SYSFUNC(CATS(prefix,&suffix)) to build a variable name dynamically. What does the CATS function do in this context?
Select an answer to reveal the explanation.
Short Explanation and Infographic
Here's the deal — b is correct because CATS (Concatenate and Strip) in SAS strips leading and trailing blanks from each argument before concatenating them, producing a compact concatenated string with no embedded or trailing spaces. %SYSFUNC enables calling this DATA step function inside a macro expression.
Full explanation below image
Full Explanation
B is correct because CATS (Concatenate and Strip) in SAS strips leading and trailing blanks from each argument before concatenating them, producing a compact concatenated string with no embedded or trailing spaces. %SYSFUNC enables calling this DATA step function inside a macro expression. A is wrong; CATS does not convert numeric to character specifically (CAT/CATS do handle numeric args via automatic conversion). C is wrong; CATS is a string function, not a macro variable existence check (%SYMEXIST does that). D is wrong; CATS is a native SAS function.