How to compare a date in yymmn6. format to 201809?

[RobertWF51]

I'm attempting to create a data subset containing records where the yearmth date variable is < 201809.

The yearmth date variable is in yymmn6. format (e.g., "202006").

The following code doesn't work - I always forget how to do date comparisons in SAS.

data data2;
set data1;
where yearmth < '201908';
run;

Thanks!

[LinusH · Accepted solution]

If you date variable is in a SAS date format, you could use a SAS date constant notation:

yearmth < '01Aug2019'd

Be aware of that you need to specify the specific date.

[RobertWF51]

Perfect - thank you!