Understanding the Differences between Updating and Merging
General Comparisons between Updating and Merging
The MERGE statement and the UPDATE statement both match
observations from two SAS data sets. However, the two statements differ
significantly. It is important to distinguish between the two processes
and to choose the one that is appropriate for your application.
The most straightforward
differences are as follows:
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The UPDATE statement uses only two data sets. The number of data sets that the MERGE statement can use is limited only by machine-dependent factors such as memory and disk space.
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A BY statement must accompany an UPDATE statement. The MERGE statement performs a one-to-one merge if no BY statement follows it.
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The two ...
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