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SASdevAnneMarie
Barite | Level 11

Hello Experts,

 

I create the macro variable in this way :

%let DatePublication = %sysfunc(today(), ddmmyy10.);
%put &DatePublication.;

But when I apply this condition :

if datepart(d_fin) > &DatePublication.

Unfortunately, I don't have the right observation in output. Do I need apply another function? 

When I apply %eval it also doesn't work. The format of d_fin is datetime22. format. Thank you for your help.

if datepart(d_fin) > %eval(&DatePublication.)
5 REPLIES 5
AMSAS
SAS Super FREQ

In short you are not comparing apples to apples.
The macro variable DatePublication contains a formatted date (character value e.g. 13/06/2023)

Whereas the datepart function is returning a SAS date value (numeric number of days since 01 Jan 1960) from a SAS date/time value

 

Run the following code in SAS and compare the log output

Unless you have some reason for using the macro variable I would remove that additional complexity from the code (see 2nd data step in example below)

 

%let DatePublication = %sysfunc(today(), ddmmyy10.); 
%put &DatePublication.;

data _null_ ;
datetime=datetime() ;
datepart=datepart(datetime) ;
put datetime= ;
put datepart= ;
run ;

data _null_ ;
datetime=datetime() ;
datepart=datepart(datetime) ;
do date=date()-1 to date()+1 ;
if date>datepart(datetime) then
put "Date " date " > DateTime " datetime " - DatePart " datepart ;
else
put "Date " date "<= DateTime " datetime " - DatePart " datepart ;
end ;
run ;

 

russt_sas
SAS Employee

You just need to remove the format from your statement, try changing it to this:

 

%let DatePublication = %sysfunc(today());

PaigeMiller
Diamond | Level 26

 

%let DatePublication = %sysfunc(today(), ddmmyy10.);

 

The macro variable &DatePublication is not a valid SAS date. It is the text string 13/06/2023. SAS does not recognize this as a date, even though humans do recognize this as a date.

 

SAS dates are the number of days since 01JAN1960, and so SAS would recognize this as a valid SAS date.

 

 

%let DatePublication = %sysfunc(today());

 

 

This is the value 23174, which is a valid SAS date. It is the number of days since 01JAN1960. 

 

So when you compare a date value in your DATA step, SAS always uses its internal representation of the number of days since 01JAN1960. Thus if you use this particular &DatePublication, this should work in your DATA step.

 

See Maxim 28: "Macro variables need no formats."

--
Paige Miller
Tom
Super User Tom
Super User

The macro variable &DatePublication is not a valid SAS date. It is the text string 13/06/2023. SAS does not recognize this as a date, even though humans do recognize this as a date.

Some humans might.  My calendar only has 12 months in a year so 13/06/2023 does not look like a date to me.

🙂 

 

 

Tom
Super User Tom
Super User

When working with macro variables make sure the generate valid code.  If I run these two statements:

%let DatePublication = %sysfunc(today(), ddmmyy10.);
%put &DatePublication.;

I see 13/06/2023 printed in the SAS log.

 

Does this look like valid SAS code?

if datepart(d_fin) > 13/06/2023

You are dividing 13 by 6 and then again by 2023.

 

To convert 13/06/2023 back into a date you would need to use the INPUT() function.

if datepart(d_fin) > input("&DatePublication.",ddmmyy10.)

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