Help with Date macro

[West26]

Hello!

Below is the date macros code, that I'm using in my program

DATA _NULL_;
if "&sysparm" EQ '  ' THEN DO;
   call symput('begdate',put(intnx('qtr',TODAY(),-1,'b'),date9.));
   call symput('enddate',put(intnx('qtr',TODAY(),-1,'e'),date9.));

 END;
 ELSE DO;
  call symput('begdate',PUT(input(scan("&sysparm.", 1, ',' ) , mmddyy10.),date9.));
  call symput('enddate',PUT(input(scan("&sysparm.", 2, ',' ) , mmddyy10.),date9.));

END;
RUN;

%put begdate3 : &begdate;
begdate3 : 01JAN2019
%put enddate3 : &enddate ;
enddate3 : 31MAR2019

While using the macro in the program,

mc.file_rcvd_date>= &begdate. and

mc.file_rcvd_date < &enddate.

I'm getting the below error.

rcvd_date>= &begdate. and
NOTE: Line generated by the macro variable "BEGDATE".
            01JAN2019
              _______
              22
              76
ERROR 22-322: Syntax error, expecting one of the following: !, !!, &, *, **, +, -, /, <, <=, <>, =, >, >=, AND, EQ, EQT, GE, GET,
              GROUP, GT, GTT, HAVING, LE, LET, LT, LTT, NE, NET, OR, ORDER, ^=, |, ||, ~=. 

ERROR 76-322: Syntax error, statement will be ignored.
rcvd_date < &enddate.
;
NOTE: PROC SQL set option NOEXEC and will continue to check the syntax of statements.

Pleae help me on resolving this. Thanks.

[PaigeMiller · Accepted solution]

Macro variables just perform text substitution when SAS executes your code, and then the text with the substitution must be legal valid working SAS code.

So

mc.file_rcvd_date>= &begdate. and mc.file_rcvd_date < &enddate.

resolves to

mc.file_rcvd_date>= 01JAN2019 and mc.file_rcvd_date < 31MAR2019

which is not legal valid working SAS code.

An important concept is that you should ALWAYS create legal valid working SAS code WITHOUT MACROS on one example of your code. Then you can be reasonably sure that the macro substitution will result is legal valid working SAS code.

In this case in particular, there is no need to format the dates in the macro variables, it is unnecessary work and causes the problem. It is unnecessary extra work, that produces no benefit, and offers many opportunities for typing errors or syntax errors, and also causes your program to fail.

DATA _NULL_;
if "&sysparm" EQ '  ' THEN DO;
   call symput('begdate',TODAY(),-1,'b');
   call symput('enddate',TODAY(),-1,'e');

 END;
 ELSE DO;
  call symput('begdate',scan("&sysparm.", 1, ',' ));
  call symput('enddate',scan("&sysparm.", 2, ',' ));
END;
RUN;

[West26]

Thanks for taking your time and explaining this to me. Much appreciated.

[PaigeMiller]

Correction:

Not sure what &SYSPARM values are, you may need something like this depending on the values in &sysparm, perhaps a different informat is needed.

ELSE DO;
  call symput('begdate',input(scan("&sysparm.", 1, ',' ),anydtdte.));
  call symput('enddate',input(scan("&sysparm.", 2, ',' ),anydtdte.));
END;

[West26]

Hello!

Good morning! Below is the date macros code, that I'm using in my program

DATA _NULL_;
if "&sysparm" EQ '' THEN DO;
   call symput('begdate',put(intnx('qtr',TODAY(),-1,'b'),date9.));
   call symput('enddate',put(intnx('qtr',TODAY(),-1,'e'),date9.));

 END;
 ELSE DO;
  call symput('begdate',PUT(input(scan("&sysparm.", 1, ',' ) , mmddyy10.),date9.));
  call symput('enddate',PUT(input(scan("&sysparm.", 2, ',' ) , mmddyy10.),date9.));

END;
RUN;

%put begdate3 : &begdate;
begdate3 : 01JAN2019
%put enddate3 : &enddate ;
enddate3 : 31MAR2019

While using the macro in the program, I'm getting the below error.

rcvd_date>= &begdate. and
NOTE: Line generated by the macro variable "BEGDATE".
            01JAN2019
              _______
              22
              76
ERROR 22-322: Syntax error, expecting one of the following: !, !!, &, *, **, +, -, /, <, <=, <>, =, >, >=, AND, EQ, EQT, GE, GET,
              GROUP, GT, GTT, HAVING, LE, LET, LT, LTT, NE, NET, OR, ORDER, ^=, |, ||, ~=. 

ERROR 76-322: Syntax error, statement will be ignored.
rcvd_date < &enddate.
;
NOTE: PROC SQL set option NOEXEC and will continue to check the syntax of statements.

Even though macro resolves to the required format, I'm getting the syntax error. Also, please validate if I'm using the right code.

Please help me on resolving this. Thanks.

[Astounding]

Your syntax is incorrect. Without macro language, this would be wrong:

rcvd_date > 01JAN2019 and

The correct reference to a date would be:

rcvd_date > "01JAN2019"d and

You need to force macro language to generate the same comparison:

rcvd_date> "&begdate."d and

[Kurt_Bremser]

I merged the double-post. Please keep a single question in a single topic.