Jonathan,

Taking you literally, I think something like the following will do the trick:

proc sort data=master; by last first; run;

proc sort data=monthly (keep=last first) out=monthly_nodups nodupkey; by last first; run;

data new_master; merge master (in=a) monthly_nodups (in=b); by last first; /* choose one of these if conditions: */ **if not (a and b); /* adds new monthly records to master */ **if a and not b; /* keep only master and no monthly */ run;

but I suspect you really want to be more selective and also handle mispellings, addresses, etc. If so, the questions become: how close is close enough to say that two records are identical? And what is your tolerance for error (false matches and false mismatches)?

HTH,

Clint

-----Original Message----- From: SAS(r) Discussion [mailto:SAS-L@LISTSERV.UGA.EDU]On Behalf Of Jonathan Woodring Sent: Monday, June 19, 2006 11:48 AM To: SAS-L@LISTSERV.UGA.EDU Subject: de-duping without a unique identifier

Hi SAS-L,

I want to remove records (names) in a master file if they are contained in a monthly update file. Here's the rub: we do not have a unique identifier to easily do this in both files. Instead, we have first name, middle initial, last name, address1, address2, city, state, zip, zip4. I want to 'de-dupe' the master list of names, if the first name and last name are direct matches. Any words of wisdom from the experts before this amateur starts playing around? Thanks!

Jonathan