Merging datasets with unequal observations

[Marjolein]

Hi,

I'm struggling combining datasets with unequal observations in SAS. I have dataset A with 8000 observations (containing variables X and Y), and dataset B (containing variable Z) with 9000 observations. Both datasets have a common identifier.

I want to have dataset A, and pull variable Z from dataset B to dataset A (so the dataset will have 8000 obs, with the added variable from dataset B). Does anyone know how to do so?

Thanks in advance!

[ChrisBrooks · Accepted solution]

To merge data sets so that only common id values in both data sets are included in the output you can use the in= data set option which has the value of 1 if the data set contributes to the current observation or 0 if it doesn't. Here is an example

data dataa;
	length id $1 x $5 y $6;
	infile datalines dlm=",";
	input id x y;
	datalines;
A,CAT,BLUE
B,DOG,GREEN
C,BIRD,RED
D,FISH,YELLOW
;
run;

data datab;
	length id $1 z $7;
	infile datalines dlm=",";
	input id z;
	datalines;
A,USA
B,UK
C,GERMANY
D,CANADA
E,SPAIN
F,ITALY
;
run;

data datac;
	merge dataa(in=a) datab(in=b);
	by id;
	if a and b;
run;

[Marjolein]

Fantastic, it works! Thanks a lot for your reply!