To prepare to merge data sets, SAS does the following:
-
reads the descriptor portions of
the data sets that are listed in the MERGE statement
-
reads the rest of the DATA step
program
-
creates the PDV for the merged data set
-
assigns a tracking pointer to each
data set that is listed in the MERGE statement
If there are variables
with the same name in more than one data set, then the variable from
the first data set (the order in which the data sets are listed in
the MERGE statement) determines the length of the variable.
After reading the descriptor
portions of the data sets Clients and Amounts, SAS does the following:
-
creates a PDV for the
new Claims data set. The PDV contains all variables from the two data
sets. Note that although Name appears in both input data sets, it
appears in the PDV only once.
-
assigns tracking pointers
to Clients and Amounts.