Date:         Thu, 2 Aug 2007 08:52:55 -0400
Reply-To:     "Howard Schreier <hs AT dc-sug DOT org>" <nospam@HOWLES.COM>
Sender:       "SAS(r) Discussion" <SAS-L@LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
From:         "Howard Schreier <hs AT dc-sug DOT org>" <nospam@HOWLES.COM>
Subject:      Re: Can someone tell me what is wrong with this call execute???

On Thu, 2 Aug 2007 15:24:57 +1000, David Johnson <d@DKVJ.BIZ> wrote:

>There are actually a few problems with your statements Paul.
>
>The first is that you are trying to format a date value (Today() returns a
>date, not a date time) in date time.  So, you get a value which is the
>number of days past midnight 1Jan1960 represented as the number of seconds
>past midnight 1Jan1960.
>
>The second issue is that you are using a Call Execute to generate a SAS
>statement which is overcomplicating the process.  Why not just populate the
>macro symbol directly with a Call Symput?
>
>I would approach the problem in this manner, which gives you the log
>confirmation of the value that you sought, and lets you manipulate the value
>if you wish before it is written to the macro symbol table and the log.
>
>Data _NULL_;
>  TESTTIME = DateTime();
>  Call Symput( 'Date', Put( TESTTIME, DtTime25.) );
>  Put "PNB: Macro symbol DATE populated with " TESTTIME DtTime25.;
>Run;

Or, skip the DATA step and just use

   %let date=%sysfunc(DateTime(),dttime25.);

Notice that %SYSFUNC allows a format as a second argument, so there is no
need for PUTN.
>
>I rarely create picture formats myself, and have to recheck the
>documentation to be sure of the directives.  Thankfully, since SUGI papers
>are published and indexed on the SAS website, I was able to get a paper from
>Andrew Karp http://www2.sas.com/proceedings/sugi31/243-31.pdf to confirm my
>suspicion that your %y directive was wrong.  I suspected the correct value
>is %Y which will give you a century value for your year, and Andrews table
>of directives confirm that.  I'm sure it is also in the SAS online
>documentation, but I haven't got SAS running here to check at the moment.
>
>Note also that date times are an integer number of seconds between midnight
>1Jan1960 and the current time.  You will not get thousandths of a second
>unless you manipulate the value.  If you are testing for value ranges, then
>round down the values to the nearest second with the Floor() function and
>that should work.
>
>Kind regards
>
>David
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: SAS(r) Discussion [mailto:SAS-L@LISTSERV.UGA.EDU]On Behalf Of Paul
>Sent: Thursday, 2 August 2007 2:49 PM
>To: SAS-L@LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
>Subject: Can someone tell me what is wrong with this call execute???
>
>
>I'm trying to create a macro for the following dates
>
>'2007-07-01 00:00:00.000'
>'2007-07-31 23:59:59.999'
>
>using
>
>proc format;
>    picture dttime other='%0y-%0m-%0d %0H:%0M:%0S' (datatype=datetime);
>run;
>
>data _null_ ;
>  call execute('%let date=%sysfunc(putn(%sysfunc(today()),dttime25.)) ;') ;
>run ;
>%put &date.;
>
>but somehow the log always show
>
>1725  data _null_ ;
>1726    call execute('%let date=%sysfunc(putn(%sysfunc(today
>()),dttime25.)) ;') ;
>1727  run ;
>
>NOTE: DATA statement used (Total process time):
>      real time           0.01 seconds
>      cpu time            0.01 seconds
>
>
>NOTE: CALL EXECUTE routine executed successfully, but no SAS statements
>were generated.
>SYMBOLGEN:  Macro variable DATE resolves to 60-01-01 04:49:40
>1728  %put &date.;
>60-01-01 04:49:40
>
>Can anyone please tell me what is wrong here and why my format is not the
>same as what I want???
>
>Thank you