convert number to date

[Crystal_F]

Hi,

I was hoping someone here could help me figure out the solution to convert number to date.

I have a variable called M0906_DC_TR_DTH_DT with length of 4, format as YYMMDDN8. in the original date set. It was shown as 20130513 for example. 

I have a trouble converting it into date. 

I tried to use the following code but it didn't work.

 DSCHRG_DT=input(put(M0906_DC_TR_DTH_DT, 8.), Yymmdd10.);   
	format DSCHRG_DT YYMMDDN8.;   

I also tried to change the length of M0906_DC_TR_DTH_DT to 8 instead of 4. But it didn't work neither. 

The note showed 'Invalid argument to function INPUT ......'


Any help with this regard will be greatly appreciated!

[Jagadishkatam]

If the length of the variable is 4, i suspect the date is truncated to only 4 characters. It should have length of 8.

DSCHRG_DT=input('20130513', yymmdd10.);   

[ballardw]

---

@Jagadishkatam wrote:

If the length of the variable is 4, i suspect the date is truncated to only 4 characters. It should have length of 8.

DSCHRG_DT=input('20130513', yymmdd10.);   

---

FWIW, the largest value for length 4 is 2097152. Which "restricts" dates to a maximum of 23Oct7701.

[ballardw · Accepted solution]

---

@Crystal_F wrote:

Hi,

I was hoping someone here could help me figure out the solution to convert number to date.

I have a variable called M0906_DC_TR_DTH_DT with length of 4, format as YYMMDDN8. in the original date set. It was shown as 20130513 for example. 

I have a trouble converting it into date. 

I tried to use the following code but it didn't work.

 DSCHRG_DT=input(put(M0906_DC_TR_DTH_DT, 8.), Yymmdd10.);   
	format DSCHRG_DT YYMMDDN8.;   

I also tried to change the length of M0906_DC_TR_DTH_DT to 8 instead of 4. But it didn't work neither. 

The note showed 'Invalid argument to function INPUT ......'


Any help with this regard will be greatly appreciated!

---

If your variable shows that it has an existing format of YYMMDDN8. it is already a SAS date value.

What do you mean by "show as a date"? Likely all you need to do is change the display format.

You cannot change the length of a variable once created, and likely not needed.

You should show desired result of what you attempt along with code.

Here is an example of creating a variable of length 4 (number of bytes used to store a numeric, not related to display in any way) as a date value with a default format as you show and using a different format to display the value.

data junk;
  length x 4.;
  x = today();
  format x yymmddn8.;
run;

proc print data=junk;
   title "Default format";
run;

proc print data=junk;
   title "Different format applied";
   format x worddate.;
run;title;

https://communities.sas.com/t5/SAS-Communities-Library/Working-with-Dates-and-Times-in-SAS-Tutorial/... has a PDF with much information about dates.

[Crystal_F]

Boy! I made a very stupid mistake. Thanks for pointing out the problem. I don't need to do any conversion actually.

[Kurt_Bremser]

Your variable is a date. All you need to do is change the display format to your preferences.

A length of 4 gives sufficient numeric precision for dates.