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CharlieSong
Calcite | Level 5

Hi,

Can a order by followed by a negative date column?

 

I have a code copied from somewhere like

 

PROC SQL;
  CREATE TABLE mcapData AS
  SELECT a.permno,
  a.date,
  a.mcap
  FROM retData AS a
 

ORDER

BY a.permno,

      -a.date;
  QUIT;

 

Is that a negative sign or just some error?

7 REPLIES 7
PGStats
Opal | Level 21

It is just a trick which should be written

 

BY a,permno, a.date DESC;

 

 

PG
CharlieSong
Calcite | Level 5

Thanks! You mean I can write like that but better use DESC?

PGStats
Opal | Level 21

DESC states what you want more clearly. The next person looking at the query will not wonder what you really meant to do.

PG
CharlieSong
Calcite | Level 5

Could you tell me whether SAS allows to use like that? 

PGStats
Opal | Level 21

Yes, you can ORDER BY a SQL expression. Check the Documentation.

PG
PGStats
Opal | Level 21

Added explanation. SAS dates are just numbers. Under the hood, the date 01JAN2010 is just 18263. So -date is also just a number; -18263 when viewed as a date is 31DEC1909. When SAS is sorting by a SAS date, it is in fact just sorting numbers.

 

Hope this helps.

PG
CharlieSong
Calcite | Level 5

Hi,Thank you very much ! I understand it now.

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