Date variable

[HeatherNewton]

For variae startdate I read in 2022-11-30 as text
Then i do
Startdate1=input(startdate,yymmdd10.);
Format startdate1 date9.;

How can i have startdate equals startdate1 as i need this date variable name as startdate not startdate1 but it doesnt work when i do startdate=input(startdate, yymmdd10.) strangely so i am forced to create new variable startdate1

How can i have startdate equals startdate
I try rename the date format doesnt show as 30Nov2022

[PaigeMiller]

data want;
    set have(rename=(startdate=old_startdate));
    startdate=input(old_startdate,yymmdd10.);
    format startdate date9.;
run;

[mkeintz]

Your code is trying to convert a character variable to a numeric variable (date values are numeric variables) - that's a no-no.  That's why @PaigeMiller renamed the character variable STARTDATE, freeing up the desired name STARTDATE to be generated as a numeric variable.

[HeatherNewton]

If i have many variabke like startdate i need to put in date format
How to put in all in the rename statement?

[LinusH]

If your data is originally in a file, you can specify the format during import.
If the data is already loaded into SAS or a database, you could probably write a macro to create the code for you.

[Tom]

Use the RENAME statement.

data want;
  set have;
  startdate1=input(startdate,yymmdd10.);
  format startdate1 date9.;
  rename startdate=startdate_char startdate1=startdate;
run;