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Calcite | Level 5

is there any difference in the drop, keep, (drop=), and (keep=) function?

2 REPLIES 2
Cynthia_sas
SAS Super FREQ
Hi:
We cover the use of DROP and KEEP statements versus DROP= and KEEP= options in our Programming 1 and Programming 2 classes. For a discussion of the differences, you might want to look in the documentation.

Cynthia
Reeza
Super User

Yes. 
DROP/KEEP are STATEMENTS usually only valid in a SAS data step.

 

DROP=/KEEP= are data set OPTIONS. They can be used almost anywhere you reference a SAS data set including in a SQL step. 

 

They act at different points of time, for example a KEEP statement in the data step will only keep variables but they're available for calculations. If you use DROP = on a data set that's being read for example that data is not read into the step and cannot be used in calculations. 

 

data want1 (drop=weight) want2 (drop=height); *variables are dropped for output data sets;

set sashelp.class (drop=age); *age is dropped before the data is read in;

new_name = catt(name, ' Smith');

drop name;*name is dropped for all data sets but is available for calculations;

run;

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