Hi Irin,

data sample; input ID SRV_DT1 date9. +1 SRV_DT2 date9.; format SRV_DT1 date9. SRV_DT2 date9.; cards; 1 04Nov2005 10Dec2005 2 12Feb2006 01Jan2007 3 03Mar2006 04Apr2005 ; run;

* SAS date is number of days ; * so just use a numeric function ; * to keep the minimum value ; data result1(keep=ID SRV_DTfinal); set sample; SRV_DTfinal = min(SRV_DT1,SRV_DT2); format SRV_DTfinal date9.; run;

* same but as sql ; proc sql; create table result2 as select ID, min(SRV_DT1,SRV_DT2) as SRV_DTfinal format=date9. from sample ; quit;

Hope this is helpful.

Mark Terjeson Senior Programmer Analyst Investment Management & Research Russell Investments

Russell Investments Global Leaders in Multi-Manager Investing

-----Original Message----- From: SAS(r) Discussion [mailto:SAS-L@LISTSERV.UGA.EDU] On Behalf Of Irin later Sent: Tuesday, August 05, 2008 9:09 AM To: SAS-L@LISTSERV.UGA.EDU Subject: How to keep an earliest date?

I have a Table Service with the following fields: ID SRV_DT1 SRV_DT2 **************************** 1 o4Nov2005 10Dec2005 2 12Feb2006 01Jan2007 3 03Mar2006 04Apr2005

Proc contents gave the following for SRV_DT # Variable Type Len Format Informat Label 5 SRV_DT Num 8 DATE9. DATE9. SRV_DT

I need: ID SRV_DTfinal **************** 1 o4Nov2005 2 12Feb2006 3 04Apr2005 to keep the earliest of the dates among (SRV_dt1 and SRV_DT2) How can I implement it through either SAS syntax or Proc SQL? Thank you in advance, Irin