Combining multiple values on 2 data sets

[Whonka]

Hi, I currently have 2 data sets. They are both quite large with up to 300 variables, but simplified, they look something like this:

Set A:

John                  Var 1      Var2     Var3

Frank                 Var1       Var2     Var3

Joe                    Var1       Var2      Var3

etc. etc.

Set B:

John                  Var4

John                              Var5

John                                          Var6

Frank                 Var4    Var5

Frank                                         Var6

Joe                    Var4    

Joe                               Var5      Var6

How do I combine these data sets to make them look like:

John         Var 1    Var 2     Var 3     Var 4    Var5      Var6

Frank         Var 1    Var 2     Var 3     Var 4    Var5      Var6

Joe           Var 1    Var 2     Var 3     Var 4    Var5      Var6

Thanks in advance!

[Astounding · Accepted solution]

First, you should sort both data sets by NAME (or whatever the variable is that holds the person's name).  Then:

data want;

update set_a set_b;

by name;

run;

This requires that SET_A never contains multiple observations for the same name.

[Whonka]

Thank you!