Examples: Combining data one-to-one

The SET statement is used to combine SAS^© datasets observation by observation, without matching the values of a common variable. The order of SET statements is crucial: shared variable values from the last specified dataset replace those from previous datasets for the same observation. The process reads the first observation from the first dataset, then the first from the second, and so on. The resulting output dataset contains all variables from all input datasets. The DATA step stops selecting observations once the dataset with the fewest observations is fully read. To combine datasets with an unequal number of observations by directly accessing and matching observations by a common variable, the POINT= option can be used.