Is it possible to perform this same procedure using proc sql? It's possible by listing out the tables or creating a macro that unions all the tables. Is it efficient or practical to do so? Not really.    @belboy wrote: Hi SAS Community, I'm having a problem trying to combine 20 datasets using proc sql.  I can do it in a datastep, but is it possible to do with proc sql?   data want; set have_: ;  /*all of my datasets begin with have_*/  /*For instance, have_01, have_02, have_03....etc */ if dc_code = "" then total = total +1; run;   Is it possible to perform this same procedure using proc sql?   Thanks   ... View more

Ah yes, thanks!  Sometimes help from others will produce a "lightbulb" effect....  ... View more

worked like a charm!  thanx ... View more

The situation seems to be like that: Each new dataset only contains data for a specific group in the existing dataset. From that, I think that adding the a.'Profile Application'n = b.appname to the on clause of the left join should also work. But taking the appname from the first obs of the incoming file and using that in the where will also work, as the "solved" message shows. ... View more

1- DO a macro variable that conditionally comments and uncomments the keep and drop statements.                                  OR 2- TRY a macro call that uses %if and %else to alternate between the keep and drop statements ... View more

THanks!! ... View more

@belboy wrote: thanks @ballardw, this gives me a start - thanks for taking the time to provide a clear example. I have a program that does something similar for 20 data sets with changing content (a government sponsored survey and so the content WILL change so don't blame me) where I used this approach to examine variable labels because we had "same label different variable) and "same variable different label". Also as a reference for which yearly set to look for related topics. Then I could be prepared for some of the things likely to watch for when combining data.   One of the nice things I like about SAS is, assuming matching variable name and types, combining data sets does not depend on the order of variables within sets. ... View more

Thanks @Tom!   Also thanks @RW9 for your input as well 🙂 ... View more