how to make char date to iso date format

[vraj1]

I have a char date which is something like "17 Nov 2016" and i want to make it as "2016-11-17".

Tried  A=INPUT(E,is8601da.); 

But it didnt work as the input is char variable.

Any help?

[Shmuel]

Try next code:

sas_date = cats('"', input(compress(date_in), 'D"',date9.);

format sas_date yymmdd10.;

[vraj1]

I get error while using

data ec;
6528
6529 dat="17 Nov 2016";
6530 sas_date = cats('"', input(compress(dat), 'D"',date9.);
----
85
76
ERROR 85-322: Expecting a format name.

ERROR 76-322: Syntax error, statement will be ignored.

[Kurt_Bremser]

Make it simpler:

sas_date = input(compress(date_in),date9.);

[Tom · Accepted solution]

Convert it to an actual date and then convert it back into a character string.

A=put(input(E,date11.),yymmdd10.);