Date:         Wed, 10 Oct 2001 10:04:10 -0700
Reply-To:     Cassell.David@EPAMAIL.EPA.GOV
Sender:       "SAS(r) Discussion" <SAS-L@LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
From:         "David L. Cassell" <Cassell.David@EPAMAIL.EPA.GOV>
Subject:      Re: Merge w/o sort first
Content-type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii

IanD wrote [in part]:
>> I believe this uses less resource and is quicker than proc sort. I
>> understand that a proc sort requires approx 3x the size of the dataset
>> to work.

And Paul Dorfman replied:
> I have never seen SQL ordering a file faster than SORT. SQL may perhaps
be
> calling the same sorting routine, but there definitely exists an
overhead.

In addition to Paul's [always-correct] answer, let me also point out
that [at least in some OSes] trying to sort a large enough dataset using
PROC SQL
can cause the SAS program to just plain fail.  If the available memory is
inadequate because the dataset is Gigs instead of Megs, you may get an
error
telling you that the PROC SQL step failed.  And that will be the end of
your
production code...

David
--
David Cassell, CSC
Cassell.David@epa.gov
Senior computing specialist
mathematical statistician