topic Re: How to use macro in datetime constant syntax? in SAS Programming

How to use macro in datetime constant syntax?

aaronh — Wed, 15 May 2019 20:09:22 GMT

Hello,

I have a large dataset, from which I want to extract a subset based on a datetime variable.

So far, I've managed to obtain the SAS datetime that I want as a macro variable. For instance, I want the SAS datetime for 2019-04-01, 00:00:00:000, and I've tried the following to save the datetime as a macro variable called "dtime":

data save;
a='01APR2019, 00:00:00.000'dt;
run;

data _null_;
set save;
call symput("dtime", a);
run;

Question: Because I will have to repeat the codes above many times to subset based on multiple different dates, I am wondering if I can create a macro for the date part of the datetime. I tried the following to add a macro variable called "date" that has the date of interest:

%let date=01APR2019;

data save;
a='&date, 00:00:00.000'dt;
run;

data _null_;
set save;
call symput("dtime", a);
run;

Nonetheless, the &date part is not evaluated in the data step. So I wonder if there's way to let a = '01APR2019, 00:00:00.000'dt in the data step with the help of this macro variable "date".

First time posting, so I apologize if my question was not clearly stated.

Re: How to use macro in datetime constant syntax?

PaigeMiller — Wed, 15 May 2019 20:17:35 GMT

You need to enclose macro variables in double-quotes if you are going to use a macro variable.

%let date=01APR2019;

data _null_;
     a="&date 00:00:00.000"dt;
     call symput('dtime',a);
run;

Please note proper terminology for clarity: this is not a macro as your question implies, this is a macro variable, which is different.

Even easier:

%let dtime=%sysfunc(dhms("&date"d,0,0,0));

Re: How to use macro in datetime constant syntax?

aaronh — Wed, 15 May 2019 20:24:08 GMT

Thank you so much! I didn't realize there is a short-cut (albeit a somewhat more complex one) that gets me the same result. Thanks for helping me out!