match merging two data-sets using the "by" statement when variable names are different

[pmdci]

Hello,

when merging two data sets using the by statement, like in this example:

DATA dataC;

MERGE dataA dataB;

BY var1;

I can match-merge the observations of two datasets (dataA and dataB) into a new dataset (dataC) using a specified variable (var1) as the key.

However, is there an easy way when merging two datasets using the "by" statement where the variable names are different in deach dataset? For example, if i dataA the variable is called var1 and in dataB the variable is called varB?

Regards,

P.

[Reeza · Accepted solution]

rename the variable in the merge statement so they are the same or use PROC SQL.

DATA dataC;

MERGE dataA dataB (rename=varB=var1);

BY var1;