What is one of the primary functions of the SORT procedure in SAS?

The primary function of the SORT procedure in SAS is to rearrange the observations in a SAS data set. By using the SORT procedure, you can organize your data based on one or more variables, which is essential for tasks such as preparing data for analysis, merging datasets, or simply ensuring that data is displayed in a desired order. This functionality enhances data readability and is crucial when performing further operations or analyses that rely on the order of the data.

While combining multiple datasets, generating printed output, and creating reports of missing values are important tasks in data management and analysis, they are not the primary role of the SORT procedure. The SORT procedure specifically focuses on organizing existing observations rather than merging datasets or producing output reports.