merging multiple rows into 1

[purveshrana]

I have a dataset

columns:    A                B                    C           D

                  APPLE      BALL              123         .

                 APPLE       BALL                 .           123

I WANT AN OUTPUT TO BE LIKE FOLLOWING

           A                       B                       C            D

      APPLE                 BALL               123           123 

How can I solve this in single step ? Thanks

[Astounding · Accepted solution]

If it takes just column A to determine a unique observation:

data want;

update have (obs=0) have;

by a;

run;

If it takes the combination of both columns A and B, switch to:

data want;

update have (obs=0) have;

by a b;

run;

In any case, the data need to be in sorted order to be allowed to use the BY statement.

[purveshrana]

I figured out a way. Thank you.

[Reeza]

@purveshrana for completion, please post the solution or mark one here as correct.