Hi, I am aware of the difference between informats and formats. According to the new Base Programmer 9.4 exam prep guide there are no syntax differences when coding an informat and format. However, I am trying to run the below code and there is this colon sign added in front of the 2 date formats (e.g. Birth_Date :date.). I was told this is because these two are informats. If they were formats, I would not have to use them. I have attached the data file herewith. I tried removing the colon and the out was indeed different. Without the colon values of Hire_Date was empty. But the prep guide doesn't seem to mention about this. Therefore, I am little confused. I would appreciate if someone could explain the purpose of the colon and how to decide when to use it in an informat? data work.subset3;
length First_Name $ 12 Last_Name $ 18
Gender $ 1 Job_Title $ 25
Country $ 2;
infile 'sales.csv' dlm=',';
input Employee_ID First_Name $ Last_Name $
Gender $ Salary Job_Title $ Country $
Birth_Date :date.
Hire_Date :mmddyy.;
run; P.S. I executed code in SAS OnDemand for academics. Thank you.
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