@Kurt_Bremser wrote: @afiqcjohari wrote: Is it possible to take out the sorting part? Could it be done within the data step merge? To merge, you always have to sort. Even if you use proc sql and you do not have to sort explicitly, the sql procedure will do it automatically, which basically uses the same resources and needs the same time. If you need the same order repeatedly, an explicit sort is the way to go. The initial code was in proc sql, but I prefer data step merge because it can create multiple tables. Had it been in proc sql, I need to write separate proc sql for each different table. But I really want to avoid writing the 2 proc sorts, if possible. But it seems that it's not. What I don't get is, why if data merge necessitates the 2 tables to be sorted by the common variable, shouldn't data merge internally 'know' that the 2 tables will need to be sorted? Meaning, data merge should by default sort these 2 variables implicitly. Is there a case where data merge could be called without the tables being sorted in the first place?
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