Proc Compare - OUTDIFF filter on difference value

[jkotek]

I am comparing 2 datasets, and I want to filter out any row where the column is equal.  I have it working for character fields, but I'm having an issue with the numeric ones because a row that has the column equal, proc compare assigns an E.  

I want to get rid of any row where the difference is = E, but I can't find the correct filter.  Here is what doesn't work.

column = E

column = 'E'

column < 0

column < .

column = .

column <> 0

column <> .

Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks,

Jeff

[Quentin · Accepted solution]

The E is a SAS Special Missing Value.  You can refer to it like:

IF column = .E then ... ;

The special missing values (._ .A to .Z) can be used to distinguish different reasons that a value might be missing.  For example, in a survey, you might have "Don't Know", "Refused", "Skipped" etc.