Simple date reformatting help

[iiibbb]

I've checked the archives and can't find the correct combination of clues for my problem...

I am relatively new to reading data directly from Excel and dbf files.  I imported a dbf into a sas library and the date is formatted as for example, 06/04/13.  Normally when I import SAS converts it to the integer automatically, but this time for whatever reason it has retained the mmddyy10. format.  How do I reformat it to the simple integer value for a sas date?

Thank you

[sassharp]

try this

data required;

set yourSASdatasetname;

newdate=input(substr(strip(olddate),1,10),mmddyy10.);

run;

https://communities.sas.com/thread/32969?start=0&tstart=0

[Tom]

I see two choices.

1) SAS did import it as a date and has just assigned a different format than you are used to.

2) SAS imported the variable as a character string. In which case you can use INPUT() function to create a new variable that is an actual date variable.

Here is a simple test that will help you tell which it is.

data _null_;

  set MYDATA ;

  put datevar= / datevar= best12. / datevar=date9. ;

run;

If it is a date then you will get something like this:

datevar=06/04/13

datevar=19513

datevar=04JUN2013

If it is character you will get

NOTE 484-185: Format $DATE was not found or could not be loaded.

datevar=06/04/13

datevar=06/04/13

datevar=06/04/13

[iiibbb]

The code withe the back slashes in it didn't do anything.

I know It is a date format because when I right-click the column in SAS explorer, it is listed as format mmddyy8. and informat yymmdd8..

Also when I prob print with a format statement I can get it to change the output form.

Alternatively, one could suggest how to merge a date formatted as above, and a time column formatted as character 04:46:56pm and output as a datetime integer.  That's really where I'm going with this.

[iiibbb]

okay... answered my own question and got what I was ultimately looking for by cobbling together some things I found.  I do work better on a Monday morning over a Friday afternoon.

data a;

    set b;

sas_DT = (datevariable * 24 * 60 * 60) + input(timevariable, time10.); /* datevariable is recognized by SAS as a date variable, timevariable is a character*/

proc print;

format sas_DT datetime.;

run;

Interestingly, by figuring this out I realized that I really dont't need to remember some formatting command I won't use very often, but instead just include the variable in a function and it will return as an integer

e.g.

datevariabe_2 = datevariable + 1 - 1;

and sure enough... it output it as the integer I was after.

by the by can anyone tell me why the information on this page doesn't work?

SAS(R) 9.2 Language Reference: Dictionary, Fourth Edition

I have SAS 9.2, but it balked when I originally tried to use timeampmw.d

[Tom]

Your link is to a FORMAT and not an INFORMAT.  Is that your question?

The DHMS() function is useful for converting separate date and time values into a date time value.

data _null_;

  dt = dhms(today(),0,0,time());

  put dt datetime.;

run;

[Fugue]

To show a SAS date as the integer value, simply refer to the date value without applying any formatting. Example:

data some_dates ;

input mydate :mmddyy10.;

integer_dt = mydate ;

datalines;

1/1/2001

2/2/2002

3/3/2003

4/4/2004

5/5/2005

6/30/2006

;

;;;;

Note re: why the TIMEAMPM format isn't working for you. The TIMEAMPM format only works with SAS TIME and DATETIME values.