i liked all the answers which are simpler and much cleaner, just one more way    data want; set have; IF _N_ =1 THEN PATTERN = PRXPARSE ("/((?<=ORIG:)\S+)/"); retain pattern; if prxmatch(pattern, orig) then call prxposn(pattern, 1, position, length); val = substr(orig, position,length); drop pattern position; run;     ... View more

Just to clarify ...   In a MERGE, you don't need to rename ahead of time.  You can do it on the fly, as you merge:   data Match No_Match; Merge Dataset1 Dataset2 (rename=(BANKACCOUNT=ACCOUNT_NUMBER));; by ACCOUNT_NUMBER; if ina and inb then output Match; else output No_Match; run;   If both variables are character, make sure they have the same length.  There are ways to correct the problem if the lengths are different, but length is an issue that should not be ignored. ... View more