topic Re: How do I merge two columns together, and keep all of their observations? in SAS Programming

How do I merge two columns together, and keep all of their observations?

IvyMcKee — Thu, 12 Mar 2020 15:22:46 GMT

Hi there,

I have 2 columns that I want to merge into 1 column. Each column has 40,000 obs in it, all of which I want to keep. I want to merge RefPer and Quid into RefQuid.

All of Refper's obs are in this format: 201911, 201912 etc.

All of Quid's obs are in this format: Q12345.

So the obs in RefQuid should all look something like this: 201911Q12345

I have tried several variations of the following:

DATA finalval

RefQuid = CATS(RefPer, Quid);

run;

I keep recieving this error message: ERROR 22-322: Syntax error, expecting one of the following: A name, a quoted string, (, /. ;. _data_ _last_, _null.

What am I doing wrong? Is there another way to merge two columns together?

Thank you.

Re: How do I merge two columns together, and keep all of their observations?

PeterClemmensen — Thu, 12 Mar 2020 15:24:12 GMT

Are the two variables character or numeric?

Re: How do I merge two columns together, and keep all of their observations?

Kurt_Bremser — Thu, 12 Mar 2020 15:25:48 GMT

You are simply missing a semicolon to end the DATA statement.

Re: How do I merge two columns together, and keep all of their observations?

IvyMcKee — Thu, 12 Mar 2020 15:25:51 GMT

They are different formats... I don't mind changing them both to character formats but I also don't know how to do that.

Re: How do I merge two columns together, and keep all of their observations?

novinosrin — Thu, 12 Mar 2020 15:28:48 GMT

DATA finalval; /*I added a semicolon here*/
Set input_dataset; /*this is missing*/
Length RefQuid  $10;
RefQuid = CATS(RefPer, Quid);

run;

Hi @IvyMcKee Please see if the above makes sense to you