Which option ensures the data step avoids moving to the next line if it encounters any missing variable values?

The correct option, MISSOVER, is used in the context of the INPUT statement in SAS data steps to control how the data step handles missing values. When MISSOVER is specified, if the input statement encounters a line of data with missing values, SAS does not skip to the next line of data; instead, it assigns missing values to the variables in the current observation and continues processing the same line. This can be particularly useful when working with fixed-width input files where you want to ensure that all variables from the current line are correctly populated, even if some of them are missing.

In contrast, the other options behave differently:

• FLOWOVER allows the program to read in additional data lines when the current line has fewer values than the expected variables without skipping to the next line, but it does not specifically control how missing variable values are treated.

• STOPOVER causes the INPUT statement to halt processing when it finds a missing value, which may lead to skipping observations.

• TRUNCOVER prevents reading past the end of a line, filling in missing values for variables that are not present but does not prevent the data step from moving to the next line when missing values are encountered.

Therefore, using MISSOVER is the appropriate choice to ensure that if a missing