topic Re: How do I create a datetime variable using a character year variable? in SAS Programming

How do I create a datetime variable using a character year variable?

evance1 — Tue, 10 Oct 2023 15:52:47 GMT

Hello,

I have a variable called 'Year' that is a character variable with values like '2007'. How can I convert this to a SAS date? Do I need to add a random month and day like July 2nd to all of the values so that I can convert it using MDY? I'm not sure what the best way to do this is.

Thanks!

Re: How do I create a datetime variable using a character year variable?

sbxkoenk — Tue, 10 Oct 2023 16:02:24 GMT

Hello,

MDY function is possible indeed.

This is also possible:

data a;        
 jaar = '2007'; 
run;
data b; 
 set a; 
 datum_char = '01JAN'!!strip(jaar); 
 datum_nume = input(datum_char, date9.);
 format datum_nume ddmmyy10.;
run;
proc print data=b; run;

Koen

Re: How do I create a datetime variable using a character year variable?

Tom — Tue, 10 Oct 2023 16:07:36 GMT

Do you want a DATE value (number of days) or a DATETIME value (number of seconds)?

What day in the year do you want? If you want a DATETIME value then what time of day on that chosen day?

data have;
  year='2017';
run;

data want;
  date = mdy(1,1,input(year,32.));
  datetime = dhms(date,0,0,0);
  format date date9. datetime datetime19.;
run;

Re: How do I create a datetime variable using a character year variable?

Kurt_Bremser — Tue, 10 Oct 2023 16:16:49 GMT

A date is defined as a specific day within a specific month within a specific year. So you need all three values to get a date value. When you only have a year, you must define a rule for this; this rule can very well be "select a random day", of course.

Re: How do I create a datetime variable using a character year variable?

PaigeMiller — Tue, 10 Oct 2023 17:16:06 GMT

Okay, let me ask the obvious question. If you have a year value, what is the point of converting it to a datetime value? What can you then do with a datetime value that you couldn't do if you left it as a date?

Also, years should be numeric, it makes sense to convert it to a number, 2007. Years should never be character.