Step-by-Step Programming with Base SAS 9.4

Summary

Statements

MERGE SAS-data-set-list;

BY variable-list;

The MERGE statement reads observations in multiple SAS data sets and combines them into one observation in one new SAS data set. SAS-data-set-list is a list of the SAS data sets to merge. The list can contain any number of data sets.

Variable-list is the name of one or more variables by which to merge the data sets. If you use a BY statement, then the data sets must be sorted by the same BY variables before you can merge them. If you do not use a BY statement, then SAS merges observations based on their positions in the original data sets.