How to left join multiple tables in one step

[LisaYIN9309]

My final output should like, which o, p, q, r..... are columns, each column for a different population, so this table is a benchmark across all population, it has more than 90 columns.....

Age	o	p	q	r	s	t
Age: < 18 years
Age:18-25 years
Age: 26-35 years
Age: >35 years
Age: Unknown

I created small tables like this:

Age	o
Age: < 18 years
Age:18-25 years
Age: 26-35 years
Age: >35 years
Age: Unknown

Age	p
Age: < 18 years
Age:18-25 years

Age	q
Age: >25
Age:unknown

(not all small columns have all the rows for age category, so I am thinking to use left join)

I am wondering the best way to put them together. I can export all small tables into excel and copy paste them, but it will take forever. So I am thinking proc sql left join, but it only allows me to join two tables at once, which is also not too helpful give my 90 columns....

Any suggestion is appreciated!

[LisaYIN9309]

to correct, the third table should be Age 26-35 years

[Astounding · Accepted solution]

This is an easy thing for SAS to accomplish, if you switch to MERGE.

Assuming each of your 90 data sets is already sorted by AGE:

data want;

merge pop1-pop90;

by age;

run;

If the data sets have different names, there may not be an easy short-cut for naming them all.  You might have to type all 90 data set names into the MERGE statement.

[LisaYIN9309]

wow, great! I like this 'think out of the box' solution! I was only thinking about sql steps