How does the SAS system handle character data types?

The SAS system manages character data types by treating them as strings with defined lengths. When a character variable is created in SAS, you specify a length for that variable, which determines how many characters can be stored in it. This length is important because it influences memory allocation and how data is processed. SAS allows for the manipulation of these character strings through various functions and can handle them effectively in different programming scenarios.

Character data types in SAS are designed to store text data, such as names, addresses, or any other non-numeric information. The defined length ensures that the data fits within the allocated space, as exceeding this length would result in truncation. Consequently, the way SAS organizes and operates on strings is integral to how it processes character data. Thus, option C accurately describes the handling of character data types in the SAS system.

Other options fall short because integers and floating-point numbers pertain to numeric data types, and binary objects refer to data structures that do not apply to standard character handling in SAS.