Without numerous if-then-else statements, how can you create a unique numeric category ID variable from the have data set?   data have; input category $ list $; datalines; A Person1 A Person2 A Person3 A Person4 B Person5 B Person6 B Person7 B Person8 C Person9 C Person10 C Person11 C Person12 D Person13 D Person14 D Person15 D Person16 ; data want; input category_id category $ list $; datalines; 1 A Person1 1 A Person2 1 A Person3 1 A Person4 2 B Person5 2 B Person6 2 B Person7 2 B Person8 3 C Person9 3 C Person10 3 C Person11 3 C Person12 4 D Person13 4 D Person14 4 D Person15 4 D Person16 ; ... View more

I have a data set with numerous SAS date columns, and each date column has a different SAS date format.    I'm looking for an easier way to extract the desired date format and convert into a macro variable to be referenced later in the program.    Is there an easier way to extract the date format without having to create and delete a contents dataset?  data have; input units date1 :mmddyy10. date2 :yymmdd10. date3 :yyq6.; format date1 mmddyy10. date2 yymmdd10. date3 yyq6.; datalines; 2 01/04/2014 20140104 2014Q1 6 01/05/2014 20140105 2014Q1 7 01/06/2014 20140106 2014Q1 ; run; proc contents data=have out=have_contents noprint; run; data _null_; set have_contents; if NAME='date3' then call symputx('want',strip(compress(FORMAT||put(FORMATL,2.)||'.')),'g'); run; proc delete data=have_contents; run; %put date format = &want;   I don't know if it exists, but envisioning something like a metadata function that can be referenced like: %let want = %sysfunc(datefmt(ds=have,col=date3));    Thanks   ... View more