--- title: "The Easy Way Removing Duplicates in SAS" description: "The example macro help you to remove duplicates in SAS macro" url: https://srinimf.com/2018/03/11/sas-eliminate-duplicates/ date: 2018-03-11 modified: 2026-10-10 author: "Srini" image: https://i0.wp.com/srinimf.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/sas-macro.jpg?fit=800%2C533&ssl=1 categories: ["SAS"] tags: ["Eliminate duplicate in SAS", "SAS nodupkey", "SAS tips and tricks"] type: post lang: en --- # The Easy Way Removing Duplicates in SAS Here’s a sample macro that shows removing duplicates in SAS. This question asked in [Synchrony](https://www.synchronyfinancial.com) interview. Related[Explained SAS Macro Here’s Tutorial](https://srinimf.com/2012/05/19/mainframe-with-sas/) ## **Here’s [input dataset](https://srinimf.com/2015/10/16/jcl-to-sort-few-fields-in-an-input-dataset/) having duplicate rows** ``` beluga whale 15 whale shark 40 basking shark 30 gray whale 50 mako shark 12 sperm whale 60 dwarf shark .5 whale shark 40 humpback . 50 blue whale 100 killer whale 30 ``` Related[SAS: 10 Quiz Questions on Files](https://srinimf.com/2018/03/24/sas-files-real-use-awesome-quiz/) ## **[SAS Macro](https://srinimf.com/2016/03/10/10-awesome-step-to-writing-sas-programin-zos/)** ``` DATA marine; INFILE 'c:\MyRawData\Sealife.dat'; INPUT Name $ Family $ Length; * Sort the data; PROC SORT DATA = marine OUT = seasort NODUPKEY; BY Family DESCENDING Length; PROC PRINT DATA = seasort; TITLE 'Whales and Sharks 1'; RUN; ``` The DATA step reads the raw data from a file called Sealife.dat and creates a SAS data set named MARINE. Then PROC SORT rearranges the observations by family in ascending order, and by length in descending order. While the OUT= option writes the sorted data into a new data set named SEASORT. > SpotlightThe NODUPKEY option of PROC SORT eliminates duplicates if any The output from PROC PRINT looks like this: ``` Whales and Sharks 1 Obs Name Family Length 1 humpback 50.0 2 whale shark 40.0 3 basking shark 30.0 4 mako shark 12.0 5 dwarf shark 0.5 6 blue whale 100.0 7 sperm whale 60.0 8 gray whale 50.0 9 killer whale 30.0 10 beluga whale 15.0 ``` Related - [SAS: 10 Quiz Questions on Files](https://srinimf.com/2018/03/24/sas-files-real-use-awesome-quiz/)DateMarch 24, 2018 - [How to Start Your First SAS Macro](https://srinimf.com/2014/06/09/sas-mainframe-program/)DateJune 9, 2014 - [7 Must Know SAS Language Terms](https://srinimf.com/2018/05/15/terms-in-sas-macro-processing/)DateMay 15, 2018 ### Share this: - - [Tweet](https://twitter.com/share) - [![](https://i0.wp.com/assets.pinterest.com/images/pidgets/pinit_fg_en_rect_gray_20.png)](https://www.pinterest.com/pin/create/link/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fsrinimf.com%2F2018%2F03%2F11%2Fsas-eliminate-duplicates%2F&media=https%3A%2F%2Fi0.wp.com%2Fsrinimf.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2018%2F03%2Fsas-macro.jpg%3Ffit%3D800%252C533%26ssl%3D1&description=The%20Easy%20Way%20Removing%20Duplicates%20in%20SAS) - - [Share on Tumblr](https://www.tumblr.com/share) - [Share on WhatsApp (Opens in new window) WhatsApp](https://srinimf.com/2018/03/11/sas-eliminate-duplicates/?share=jetpack-whatsapp) - [More](#) - - [Print (Opens in new window) Print](https://srinimf.com/2018/03/11/sas-eliminate-duplicates/?share=print) - [Share on Reddit (Opens in new window) Reddit](https://srinimf.com/2018/03/11/sas-eliminate-duplicates/?share=reddit) - [Share on Telegram (Opens in new window) Telegram](https://srinimf.com/2018/03/11/sas-eliminate-duplicates/?share=telegram) - [Email a link to a friend (Opens in new window) Email](mailto:?subject=%5BShared%20Post%5D%20The%20Easy%20Way%20Removing%20Duplicates%20in%20SAS&body=https%3A%2F%2Fsrinimf.com%2F2018%2F03%2F11%2Fsas-eliminate-duplicates%2F&share=email) - ### Like this: Like Loading…