When a width is specified for the E8601DT informat that is longer than the input value, extra characters from variables in the step are read as well.  The variable can be anywhere in the step. Incorrect results are produced.

   data _null_; 
     length x $16 y $3; 
     x='2011-07-11T12:34';
     y=':56'; 
     value=input(x,e8601dt19.); 
     put value=datetime19.;
   run;

The E8601DT informat is expecting to read 19 characters since 19 is the default width. Since the input value has only 16 characters, characters from other variables in the step may be appended to the end of the value. In the above example, the value for Y is absorbed into the value of X and the output is value=11JUL2011:12:34:56.

The workaround is to use an explicit width that matches the width of the first argument to the INPUT or INPUTN functions.

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