In PROC MEANS, what does the MAXDEC option specify?

When using PROC MEANS in SAS, the MAXDEC option specifically controls the maximum number of decimal places that will be displayed in the output for numeric statistics. This can be particularly useful in ensuring that the output is presented in a clear and comprehensible manner. For example, if the output is reporting mean values, you may want the results rounded to a certain number of decimal places for readability or to meet presentation standards.

The omission of settings for other options, such as the number of variables, rows, or frequency counts, highlights that MAXDEC strictly pertains to how numeric precision is presented in the output. By setting this option, users can tailor their results to better fit the analysis or report they're generating, ensuring that unnecessary decimal places do not clutter the results.