What happens when reading raw data without a missover statement when the end of a record is reached?

When reading raw data without a missover statement, the behavior when encountering the end of a record is such that it skips to the next record. This occurs because, in the absence of the missover option, the default behavior for reading records is to stop and wait for the next line of input before attempting to read additional records. Consequently, if there is a situation where the end of the record is reached (for example, if there are fewer values provided than there are variables specified), SAS will simply move on to the next line of data.

This process does not involve retaining variable values or assigning zeros. Thus, the statement about skipping to the next record accurately describes the outcome under these circumstances, while other outcomes such as retaining last values or assigning zeros do not apply in this context.