date comparison condition in a macro

[sfmeier]

I am trying to create a macro bibgen, that sets the macro variable bib to a, if the date stichdatum is earlier then 01Jan2012, else to b.

Stichdatum is a date macro variable that is created by the code

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%LET &

%LET Stichdatum = %sysfunc(INPUTN(&stichtag, B8601DA.));

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Here is my macro, however it does not work. It always returns b, whereas it should return b in this case! How can I fix it?

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/* Makro zur automatischen Selektion der richtigen Bibliothek wg. Historisierung */

%Macro bibgen();

%GLOBAL bib;

%LET stichdatum2 = %SYSFUNC(putn(&stichdatum, date9.));

%PUT stichdatum=&stichdatum;

%PUT stichdatum2=&stichdatum2;

%IF &stichdatum < '01Jan2012'd

      %THEN %LET bib =a;

      %ELSE %LET bib =b;

%PUT &bib;

%mend bibGen;

[sfmeier]

The first line must be

%LET &stichtag=20111230;

[PaulLee · Accepted solution]

Rather than writing the date as '01Jan2012'd, that will just be interpereated as text? Use this instead...

%sysfunc(putn('01Jan2012'd,5.))

[sfmeier]

Thank you! It works. However, just that I understand the reason: I always thought that SAS would evaluate the condition as sas code and not as macro code.

So would the condition be different in an regular IF-THEN-Clause? i.e.I could write '01Jan2012'd in a regular IF-THEN-Clause, coundn't I?

[Tom]

Use %SYSEVALF() to let the macro code evaluate the date comparisons.

%IF %sysevalf(&stichdatum < '01Jan2012'd)