Change modte date

[anthony2885]

Is it possible to change the last modified date of a SAS Dataset? I have a SAS Dataset (let's call it result.sas7bdat), using powershell, I already change the created date and last modified date. However, when I use this line of code

%let olddataid=%sysfunc(open(MYLIB.RESULT));

%let timestamp = %sysfunc(attrn(&newdataid,modte));

the timestamp still shows the original modified date, is there anyway to permanently change the last modified date?

[PeterClemmensen]

You are missing a % in front of your second sysfunc 🙂

[LinusH · Accepted solution]

What do you want to change it to?

If the current datetime just do a harmless edit of the data set. Otherwise, I don't know.

Even if this is not my business, but is it wise to tamper with created/update timestamps? They do tell you something and is useful for audit and maintenance purposes.

Fun fact: created timestamp can be changed within SAS using the DTC= option in PROC DATASETS, MODIFY statement.

[RW9]

You would never want to, it is an audit nightmare.  Anyways, if your changing the timestamp of the file to something, then the act of changing it, is in of itself a change, and hence the timestamp should be that.