I need a little help formatting dates!

[davidjayjackson]

When the date is imported it is formatted like this: 12/01/2023 (

SalesDate

Num

8

MMDDYY10.

When I run this code, it deletes the dates:

/* Convert SalesDate from character to SAS date format */
data esales.import;
set esales.import;
/* Convert SalesDate to SAS date using MM/DD/YYYY format */
SalesDate = input(SalesDate, mmddyy10.);
format SalesDate date9.; /* Format for readability as DDMMMYYYY */
run;

[Reeza · Accepted solution]

---

@davidjayjackson wrote:

When the date is imported it is formatted like this: 12/01/2023 (

SalesDate

Num

8

MMDDYY10.

When I run this code, it deletes the dates:

/* Convert SalesDate from character to SAS date format */
data esales.import;
set esales.import;
/* Convert SalesDate to SAS date using MM/DD/YYYY format */
SalesDate = input(SalesDate, mmddyy10.);
format SalesDate date9.; /* Format for readability as DDMMMYYYY */
run;

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See comments on your code below. General idea:

1. Do not use the same name in SET/DATA statements. This overwrites the data so it has to be recreated before it can be used again. 
2. Dates in SAS are stored as numerics with a date format. To change the format, use a format statement

To fix your code first re-import your data, then try something like below. 

data esales.import_date_formatted;
set esales.import;
format SalesDate date9.; /* Format for readability as DDMMMYYYY */
run;

If you still have issues, please post your log and full code.

[davidjayjackson]

Thanks , that was what I needed.

[Tom]

So SALESDATE is a numeric variable with DATE values. So there is no need to change the value to change how the value is displayed.  Just attach a different display format to the variable.

proc datasets nolist lib=esales ;
  modify import;
    format SalesDate date9.;
  run;
quit;

What is wrong with your program?  The INPUT() function needs a character string, not a number.  So SAS will first convert that date value into a character string using the BEST12. format.   Then the MMDDYY10. informat will try to read in the first 10 characters of that string and interpret that as if is a date value in MDY order (possibly with delimiters between the parts).

Let's try if on just a single date and see what happens.

476  data test;
477    startdate = '01MAY2024'd ;
478    string = put(startdate,best12.);
479    newdate = input(string,mmddyy10.);
480    put startdate=comma. startdate=mmddyy10. startdate=date9.
481      / string=$quote.
482      / newdate=comma. newdate=date9.
483    ;
484  run;

NOTE: Invalid argument to function INPUT at line 479 column 13.
startdate=23,497 startdate=05/01/2024 startdate=01MAY2024
string="       23497"
newdate=. newdate=.
startdate=23497 string=23497 newdate=. _ERROR_=1 _N_=1
NOTE: Mathematical operations could not be performed at the following places. The results of the operations have been set to
      missing values.
      Each place is given by: (Number of times) at (Line):(Column).
      1 at 479:13
NOTE: The data set WORK.TEST has 1 observations and 3 variables.
NOTE: DATA statement used (Total process time):
      real time           0.02 seconds
      cpu time            0.04 seconds

So the date 01MAY2024 is the number 23,497.  When converted to a string using the BEST12. format there will be 7 leading spaces, so the first 10 characters is just '       234' which does not look like a date in MDY style.