try:

set dealseds key=dealkey/unique;

You could also accomplish this task with SQL, a merge, a PROC FORMAT, or a hash look-up. The "best" approach might depend upon the size of the two datasets.

Alistair Gordon wrote:

> Using this code: > > data spardate; > set allspar(keep=fund sedol date); > set dealseds key=dealkey; > if _iorc_=%sysrc(_dsenom) then > do; > error=0; > delete; > end; > run; > > Dealseds contains one observation per fund and sedol combination > required. Dealkey is a composite index on fund and sedol and is not > specified as unique. Allspar contains multiple instances of the same > fund and sedol but with differing dates. > > Sadly spardate only contains one observation per fund/sedol > combination and not all the obsevations from allspar. > > Can this technique be modified to output all obs from allspar where > there is a > match in dealseds? > > What other equivalent and efficient techniques might be considered in > lieu of this? > > Many thanks.