Some DBMSs, including SQL Server, Oracle, Sybase, and SybaseIQ, do not have the equivalent of SAS DATE variables. In these DBMSs, the DATE variable also contains a TIME variable, so they are equivalent to SAS DATETIME variables.

When an SQL procedure (PROC) query contains the TODAY() or DATEPART() function, the result should be a DATE variable if the query was processed by SAS. However, for those DBMSs that do not have an equivalent DATE variable, a DATETIME or CHARACTER variable is returned to SAS by that DBMS.

Take for example the following query:

Running this query results in incorrect data for the variable mydate. The variable will be a DATETIME for queries where the libref MYDBLIB was pointed to a SQL Server or Oracle DBMS and a CHARACTER if the DBMS was SybaseIQ.

A problem will result if later code treats that variable as a DATE rather than as a DATETIME. The only workaround is to turn off implicit pass-through so that the function is not passed to the DBMS and is instead processed by SAS. This can be done by setting the DIRECT_SQL=NO LIBNAME option.

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