Sorry, Actually my typing had some errors and the new problem should as below (there is some changes), can you please check it: I have the following dataset with following variables: ID (Character) test (character) date (character) result (numeric) ID test date result 101 run 15JUL1978 1 101 run 15JUL1978 2 101 run 15JUL1978 1 101 run 18JUL1976 1 101 run 18JUL1976 1 101 run 18JUL1976 1 101 case 15OCT2014 5 101 case 15OCT2014 5 101 case 15DEC2017 . 102 rub 28MAR2017 7 102 rub 28MAR2017 6 102 rub 29MAR 8 102 rub APR2017 5 need retian statement used or proc sql to create a new variable "MAXRESULT" to retain the maxmimum value (by ID test date( meaning per time point) from the presvois itration and compare with the present one and keep the maximum one and NEED A RESULT Datset LIKE AS BELOW. Also need to pay attention to the incomplete date and missing result. ID test date result MAXRESULT 101 run 15JUL1978 1 1 101 run 15JUL1978 2 2 101 run 15JUL1978 1 2 101 run 18JUL1976 1 1 101 run 18JUL1976 1 1 101 run 18JUL1976 1 1 101 case 15OCT2014 5 5 101 case 15OCT2014 5 5 101 case 15DEC2017 . . 102 rub 28MAR2017 7 7 102 rub 28MAR2017 6 7 102 rub 29MAR 8 8 102 rub APR2017 5 5 Thank you so much from the bottom of my heart. ... View more

Astounding.. looks good.. but unfortunately given an error. 2079  proc sql noprint; 2080     select caseno, distinct drnm01 separated by ' + ' as all_arm                                  ------                                  22                                  202 ERROR 22-322: Syntax error, expecting one of the following: a quoted string, !, !!, &, (, *, **,               +, ',', -, '.', /, <, <=, <>, =, >, >=, ?, AND, AS, BETWEEN, CONTAINS, EQ, EQT,               FORMAT, FROM, GE, GET, GT, GTT, IN, INFORMAT, INTO, IS, LABEL, LE, LEN, LENGTH,               LET, LIKE, LT, LTT, NE, NET, NOT, NOTIN, OR, TRANSCODE, ^, ^=, |, ||, ~, ~=. ERROR 202-322: The option or parameter is not recognized and will be ignored. 2081     from &RAWLIB..A02DR 2082     group by caseno; 2083  quit; NOTE: The SAS System stopped processing this step because of errors. NOTE: PROCEDURE SQL used (Total process time):       real time           0.01 seconds       cpu time            0.01 seconds ... View more

You are not only smart but also very helpful. You saved me a few times. Thanks a lot ... View more

Sorry I realized my question was incomplete and more to do with macro than the process. I have reposted it again in Process forum ... View more

Hi Reeza, Thanks for your help. I am new to macro. I ran the following code and the got the following error regarding array. Can you please lot at the below and let me know? Thanks %macro summarize(dataset_name=, variable_list=, output_data=); data have&output_data; 1set &RAWLIB..&dataset_name; array numbers (*) &variable_list; value=max(of numbers); %mend summarize; %summarize(dataset_name=A01MAIN, variable_list= STDENDT EDRUGENDT, output_data=k); NOTE: The SAS System stopped processing this step because of errors. WARNING: The data set WORK.HAVEK may be incomplete.  When this step was stopped there were 0          observations and 62 variables. WARNING: Data set WORK.HAVEK was not replaced because this step was stopped. NOTE: DATA statement used (Total process time):       real time           3:14.56       cpu time            4.14 seconds NOTE: Data file MBC301.A01MAIN.DATA is in a format that is native to another host, or the file       encoding does not match the session encoding. Cross Environment Data Access will be used,       which might require additional CPU resources and might reduce performance. ERROR: Illegal reference to the array numbers.    ---------> ERROR ... View more

Thanks. And If I have multiple dataset to work with. I have almost 60 datasets. can I pass the dataset name as a parameter? Can you please show me how to do it? ... View more

Can I have a choice to pick up the varaibles as a macro parameter. such as I want var1 and varible 3 only. can you please show how to do it using macro? Thanks ... View more

yes they are numeric and also it is good if I have a choice to pick up the varaibles as a macro parameter. thanks a lot ... View more

Sorry there is no variable patern. it can have any name or any number od varaibles. can you still help me? might need to write a macro. ... View more