How to convert String to Date value in SAS?

Question

I want to convert a String to Date in SAS, I tried:

data _null_; 
   monyy = '05May2013'; 
   date = input(substr(strip(monyy),1,9),yymmdd.);;
   put date=date9.; 
   run;

But it did not work. Can this be done?

score 15 · Answer 1 · edited Jul 30 '14 at 05:57

15

Formats like

date9.

or

mmddyy10.

are not valid for input command while converting text to a sas date. You can use

Date = input( cdate , ANYDTDTE11.);

or

Date = input( cdate , ANYDTDTE10.);

for conversion.

edited Jul 30 '14 at 05:57

VMai

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answered Jul 30 '14 at 05:28

Mitul

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I had an input character variable that looked like '1961-11-20' that I wanted to read as a date. This solution worked, where the others did not. – Underminer Mar 03 '15 at 21:43
Agreed, this solution works better for character datetime stamps as well. – William M-B Jan 26 '17 at 22:15

score 11 · Accepted Answer · answered Mar 26 '13 at 21:11

11

You don't need substr or strip.

input(monyy,date9.);

answered Mar 26 '13 at 21:11

data _null_

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score 3 · Answer 3 · edited Mar 14 '14 at 17:31

As stated above, the simple answer is:

date = input(monyy,date9.);

with the addition of:

put date=yymmdd.;

The reason why this works, and what you did doesn't, is because of a common misunderstanding in SAS. DATE9. is an INFORMAT. In an INPUT statement, it provides the SAS interpreter with a set of translation commands it can send to the compiler to turn your text into the right numbers, which will then look like a date once the right FORMAT is applied. FORMATs are just visible representations of numbers (or characters). So by using YYMMDD., you confused the INPUT function by handing it a FORMAT instead of an INFORMAT, and probably got a helpful error that said:

Invalid argument to INPUT function at line... etc...

Which told you absolutely nothing about what to do next.

In summary, to represent your character date as a YYMMDD. In SAS you need to:

change the INFORMAT - date = input(monyy,date9.);
apply the FORMAT - put date=YYMMDD10.;

If you can't comment don't use a answer to do it. Get enough reputation and then comment. — Jonathan Drapeau, Mar 14 '14 at 17:29
@JonathanDrapeau On the other hand, this is probably one occasion where it honestly is more of an answer than a comment. — Keith Pinson, Mar 14 '14 at 17:31

score 1 · Answer 4 · answered Mar 26 '13 at 21:02

1

Try

data _null_; 
   monyy = '05May2013'; 
   date = input(substr(strip(monyy),1,9),date9.);
   put date=date9.; 
   run;

answered Mar 26 '13 at 21:02

Aaron Kurtzhals

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score 1 · Answer 5 · answered Apr 02 '13 at 11:28

1

input(char_val, date9.);

You can consider to convert it to word format using input(char_val, worddate.)

You can get a lot in this page http://v8doc.sas.com/sashtml/lrcon/zenid-63.htm

answered Apr 02 '13 at 11:28

Santhosh

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score 1 · Answer 6 · answered Feb 02 '15 at 13:46

1

This code helps:

data final; set final;

first_date = INPUT(compress(char_date),date9.); format first_date date9.;

run;

I personally have tried it on SAS

answered Feb 02 '15 at 13:46

Gireesh Sundaram

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score 0 · Answer 7 · edited Dec 17 '13 at 08:20

0

input(char_val,current_date_format);

You can specify any date format at display time, like set char_val=date9.;

edited Dec 17 '13 at 08:20

Wladimir Palant

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answered Dec 17 '13 at 07:59

Arun Patil

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How to convert String to Date value in SAS?

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