Assign random date

[di_niu0]

Hi All, 

I would like to assign a random date for each observation. There are two conditions to fulfill.

1. The assign date has to be between Jan 1, 2015 and Dec 31, 2015. 

2. The assign date has to be after each observation's start date. 

ID            Start_Date             

1              01JAN2015

2              01JUN2015

3              31DEC2015

Thank you! 

[di_niu0]

For ID 3, the assign date is Dec 31, 2015.

[Tom · Accepted solution]

Use the RAND() function with 'INTEGER' type.

data have ;
  input id Start_Date :date.;
  format start_date date9.;
cards;
1              01JAN2015
2              01JUN2015
3              31DEC2015
;

data want;
  set have;
  stop_date = rand('integer',max(start_date,"01JAN2015"d),"31DEC2015"d);
  format stop_date date9.;
run;

proc print;
run;

Results:

               Start_
Obs    id         Date    stop_date

 1      1    01JAN2015    05OCT2015
 2      2    01JUN2015    10AUG2015
 3      3    31DEC2015    31DEC2015

[di_niu0]

That works well. Thank you!

[Kurt_Bremser]

Use the RAND function with the INTEGER distribution:

data have;
input ID $ Start_Date :date9.;
format start_date yymmdd10.;
datalines;             
1              01JAN2015
2              01JUN2015
3              31DEC2015
;

data want;
set have;
assign_date = rand('integer',max(start_date,'01jan2015'd),'31dec2015'd);
format assign_date yymmdd10.;
run;

[di_niu0]

Thank you!

[PaigeMiller]

data have; 
input ID Start_Date :date9.;   
cards; 
1              01JAN2015
2              01JUN2015
3              31DEC2015
;

data want;
    set have;
    end_date='31DEC2015'd;
    number_of_days_start_to_end=end_date-start_date+1;
    random_date=start_date+rand('integer',0,number_of_days_start_to_end);
    format random_date date9.;
run;

[di_niu0]

Thank you!