data _null_; mon="nov";

mon1=int((((index("JANFEBMARAPRMAYJUNJULAUGSEPOCTNOVDEC",upcase(mon)))-1)/3) +1); put _all_; run;

Lex Jansen

"DePuy, Venita" <depuy001@DCRI.DUKE.EDU> wrote in message news:A7D4140CA0A3D24CA55F8A4495F1B25106069E0C@argon.dcri.duke.edu... > Hi all - > not having any luck finding a concise way to change months (JAN, FEB, MAR) > to numbers (1,2,3). > > What I have is month, day, year in 3 fields. So OCT, 15, 2003. (character, > numeric, numeric). > I'm wanting to change the OCT to 10 so I can use the MDY function to create > a date out of it. > > The only method I've come up with (in spite of searching Online Docs & > online in general) is a series of if/then statements . . if mon='JAN' then > mon1=1; else if mon='FEB' then mon1=2; . . etc. > > Any thoughts? > Either on a concise way to change months, or an equivalent function for MDY > that would take a 3-letter character variable for the month? > > Thanks much! > -Venita > Venita DePuy > Statistician II, Center for Clinical and Genetic Economics > Duke Clinical Research Institute > (919) 668-8087 > venita.depuy@duke.edu