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Compare Two Datasets – Identify Differences Easily

Numeric Variable Tolerance Options

Unsigned numerical difference (default)

Assesses whether 2 values are different by taking the absolute value of the difference and testing if it is larger than the max value of difference value

Unsigned percent difference

Assesses whether 2 values are different by taking the absolute value of the percent difference and testing if it is larger than the max value of difference value

Max value of difference (blank by default)

If blank, values should be identical (as best detected by your system). Otherwise, enter a value > 0 that will be used to determine if the difference is large enough to be called different.

Treat integer variables as numeric variables in comparisons

Should variables with class integer be compared to variables with class numeric? User may end up with variables of different classes when user reads in data from external sources (like Excel)

Factor Variable Tolerance Options

Compare both underlying levels and labels (default)

Compares both the stored values (1,2,3) and labels (mild, moderate, severe) between the variables

Compare underlying levels only

Compares only the underlying levels (1,2,3) across factor variables

Compare underlying labels only

Compares only the underlying labels (mild, moderate, severe) across factor variables

Treat factor variables as character variables in comparisons

Checks if factors should be converted to character variables using their labels for the comparison. You may end up with discrepant classes if you read data from different sources.

Character Variable Tolerance Options

Treat text as-is (default)

Text is compared exactly as presented including any differing spaces or upper/lowercase differences.

Ignore differences in upper/lowercase

Ignore case differences when doing the comparison

Ignore differences in leading/trailing whitespace

Remove any leading/trailing whitespace before doing the comparison

Ignore differences in both case and whitespace

Ignore both case and whitespace as described above

Variable Name Tolerance Options

Treat variable names as-is (default)

Upper/lowercase, spaces, dots, and underscores mean variables are different

Treat dots, underscores, and spaces equivalent in variable names

Ignore dots, underscores, and spaces in variable names

Ignore upper/lowercase in variable names

Ignore differences in upper/lowercase in variable names

Ignore case and treat dots, underscores, and spaces equivalent in variable names

Ignore differences in dots, underscores, spaces, and upper/lowercase as described above

Last modified: 01 October 2025