How do I combine multiple numeric columns into one?

[vchfurereyt]

I have a data file that looks like this:

There are many cases where a value for the column "ActualRead" will not exist, and therefore it will be an estimated read that shows up in the "EstimatedReads" column. My question is how do I combine these two columns so that I have a single column that contains the actual reads, and replaces the missing actual reads with the estimated reads in the other column?

P.s. I am a SaS novice. I can handle some programming, but would prefer a solution in EG. Thanks.

[art297]

The coalesce function will do what you want. e.g.:

data want;
  set have;
  actualreads=coalesce(actualreads,estimatedreads);
run;

Art, CEO, AnalystFinder.com

[PeterClemmensen]

data have1;
   set have;
   ActualReads=ifn(missing(ActualReads)=1, EstimatedReads, ActualReads);
run

[Astounding]

Since you call yourself a novice, I thought you might want the simplest version:

data want;

set have;

if ActualReads=. then ActualReads=EstimatedReads;

drop EstimatedReads;

run;

Dropping EstimatedReads might not be a great idea, but I wasn't sure if that was part of the question or not.