SAS has several forms it uses to create output data sets from within a procedure. It is not always clear whether or not a particular procedure can generate a data set and, if it seems to be able to, it's not always clear how.
Off the top of my head, here are some examples of how widely the syntax can differ.
Example 1
proc sort data = sashelp.baseball out = baseball_sorted;
by
league
division
;
run;
Example 2
proc means noprint data = baseball_sorted;
by
league
division
;
var nHits;
output
out = baseball_avg_hits (drop = _TYPE_ _FREQ_)
mean = mean_hits
;
run;
Example 3
ods exclude all;
ods output
statistics = baseball_statistics
equality = baseball_ftest
;
proc ttest data = baseball_sorted;
class league;
var nHits;
run;
ods exclude none;
Example 4
The PROC ANOVA
OUTSTAT= option.
It seems almost as if SAS has implemented each of these willy-nilly. Is the SAS syntax dictating how to create a data set directed by some consistent approach I am not seeing or is it truly capricious and arbitrary?