DI Studio: Capture Observations or Locate First Duplicate

[jwhite]

Hi Community,

So, using DI Studio I can group columns and create a count(*) coulmn that captures the number in that group, but is there a way to locate the first record in that group?

I want to find the first time one of the duplicates appears, because I want to keep that one and close out the rest on a fact table.

I was thinking if I could have a column that had each observation within the group numbered I could simply look for the '1' in this column. Or if I could find another way to flag one record within the group, that'd be great.

Seems like a simple thing to do.

Thanks!

[LinusH]

I'm not sure how you would apply this logic into a job/flow, and how would the Table Loader step work...?

Nevertheless, I don't think that a standard transformation could do this in one step.

If your data is sorted, a User Written code with if first.your_group then counter+1; would do the trick.

[jwhite]

Fortunately, I don't need this in a Table Loader step, but for the time being just for some analysis. I was thinking I could do it in an Extract, but maybe I would need to use a User Written piece, and sort the code first.

I'm a SAS beginner, so could you flesh out your suggestion just a bit more?

Thanks, Linus!

[LinusH]

If it's just for analysis DI Studio may not be the ideal environment. Rather Enterprise Guide or SAS Studio.
Either way, the data step would be something like:

data want;
Set have;
By myid;
If first.myid then counter=1;
Else counter +1;
Run;

[TomKari]

SQL typically isn't a good option for things like the "first" record in a group, UNLESS you can identify it by some combination of min or max of variables, in which case it's usually quite easy. Provide a few more details about what you need. Personally, I agree with @LinusH that you should use EG or Studio if it's exploratory. Tom