converting a date in a character field to an actual date

[Elliott]

Hello,

I have a date in a character field that looks like 2017JAN and I need to convert to 201701 in another field, so it is recognized as a date.  I have tried everything I can think of and researched but can not get the conversion to work.

Any assistance will be greatly appreciated.

Elliott

[Astounding]

In SAS, 201701 is not a date.  The conversion can be made as you requested, but you are not getting a date as the result.  Here is one way to go about it.  It gets your six-digits as a numeric value:

newvar = input(oldvar, 4.) * 100 + month(input('01' || substr(oldvar, 5, 3) || substr(oldvar, 1, 4), date9.);

[Ksharp · Accepted solution]

data x;
x='2017JAN';
y=input(cats(substr(x,5),substr(x,1,4)),monyy7.);
format y yymmn6.;
run;
proc print;run;

[Elliott]

Thanks!