What type of variables can you refer to using a Name Prefix List?

The concept of a Name Prefix List in SAS is designed to allow users to refer to multiple variables that start with a specified character string. When you use a prefix, SAS will treat it as a shorthand to include all variables in a dataset that share that common beginning in their names. This is particularly useful for managing large datasets or performing operations across many similar variables without needing to list each one individually.

For example, if you have variables named sales_Q1, sales_Q2, and sales_Q3, by using the prefix sales_, you can easily refer to all of those variables in your analysis without the need to explicitly type out each variable name.

In contrast, the other options do not utilize the concept of a Name Prefix List correctly. Referring to variables that end with a specific number or have the same suffix does not align with the prefix structure. Furthermore, restrictively mentioning only numeric variables does not capture the full capability of the prefix approach, which applies to all variables, regardless of their type, as long as they share the specified prefix at the start of their names.