SASDATEFMT

Syntax Description

data-source date-column

specifies the name of a date column in a data source table.

SAS date-format

specifies a SAS date format that has an equivalent, like-named informat.

EXAMPLE

DATETIME21.2 is both a SAS format and a SAS informat. It is a valid value for the SAS date-format argument.

If the date format of a SAS column does not match the date format of the corresponding data source column, use the SASDATEFMT option to convert date values. The SASDATEFMT option enables you to convert date values from the default SAS date format to another SAS date format that you specify.

Use the SASDATEFMT option to prevent date type mismatches under these circumstances:

• during input operations to convert data source date values to the correct SAS DATE, TIME, or DATETIME values

• during output operations to convert SAS DATE, TIME, or DATETIME values to the correct data source date values

Default:The default SAS date format is data source-specific and is determined by the data type of the data source column.

Note: if the SAS date format and the data source date format match, this option is not needed.

See: the documentation for your SAS/ACCESS interface.

Note:For non-English date types, SAS converts the data to the SAS type of NUMBER. The SASDATEFMT option does not currently handle these date types. You can use a PROC SQL view to convert the data source data to a SAS date format. This can be done as you retrieve the data, or use a format statement in other contexts.

Copyright © 2009 by SAS Institute Inc., Cary, NC, USA. All rights reserved.