topic converting character variable to a time variable in SAS Data Management

converting character variable to a time variable

hein68 — Thu, 09 Aug 2018 21:20:26 GMT

Hello. I'm stuck and would appreciate your help.

I have a character variable that has times that look like this:

12:00:00 AM

12:01:00 AM

12:02:00 AM etc.

I want to convert them to a time value that assigns 0:00:00 for 12:00:00 AM through 23:59:00 for 11:59 PM. What do I need to do?

I use SAS Enterprise Guide 7.1 or SAS 9.4.

Thanks!

Re: converting character variable to a time variable

ballardw — Thu, 09 Aug 2018 22:00:29 GMT

@hein68 wrote:

Hello. I'm stuck and would appreciate your help.

I have a character variable that has times that look like this:

12:00:00 AM

12:01:00 AM

12:02:00 AM etc.

I want to convert them to a time value that assigns 0:00:00 for 12:00:00 AM through 23:59:00 for 11:59 PM. What do I need to do?

I use SAS Enterprise Guide 7.1 or SAS 9.4.

Thanks!

The example below should help. You would use a data step with a set statement to reference your existing data and the input function should reference your character time variable. The datalines is to create values to display the code working. The format is so the value displays as time and not just the number of seconds represented.

data example;
   input char_text $ 1-11 ;
   timevar= input (char_text,time11.);
   format timevar timeampm11.;
datalines;
12:00:00 AM
12:01:00 AM
12:00:00 PM
12:01:00 PM
;
run;

Re: converting character variable to a time variable

TomKari — Thu, 09 Aug 2018 23:42:29 GMT

To do it with the tasks in EG, create a query, create a new advanced expression, and use the functions combination that @ballardw shows you.

Tom

Re: converting character variable to a time variable

hein68 — Tue, 14 Aug 2018 19:00:22 GMT

Yes, this worked. Thanks so much!

Re: converting character variable to a time variable

hein68 — Tue, 14 Aug 2018 19:01:22 GMT

Thanks so much!