Calculating time differences with character fields

[Brickinnit]

Dear All,

Sorry for the question - I did search the site and found a few bits but nothing that solved my problem (or maybe I'm just a bit slow.. :-)).

Essentially, I have two date/time fields in character format ($19) displayed as, for example, '2013-10-15T12:33'.  I want to find the time difference in minutes between the two fields, e.g., one field is '2013-10-15T12:33', the other is '2013-10-15T12:35' = difference of 2 minutes.  Any idea how to do this? I think part of the problem is that the variables are in char format and I can't seem to convert...

Any help is greatly appreciated

Thanks!

[Tom · Accepted solution]

Use E8601DT informat.

data have ;

  ct1='2013-10-15T12:33' ;

  ct2='2013-10-15T12:35' ;

  t1 = input(ct1,e8601dt.);

  t2 = input(ct2,e8601dt.);

  format t1 t2 e8601dt. ;

  diff = (t2-t1) / 60 ;

  put (_all_) (=/);

run;

ct1=2013-10-15T12:33

ct2=2013-10-15T12:35

t1=2013-10-15T12:33:00

t2=2013-10-15T12:35:00

diff=2

[Brickinnit]

Thanks Tom - perfect - I owe you one...