Convert mm/dd/yy to MonthName DayNumber, YearNumber in SAS - sas

Question

I want to be able to convert an entire column of dates this way. For example, 01/01/2017 to January 1, 2017. I realize there is a convoluted way of doing this but I am not entirely sure how i'd approach that logically. Also, does there happen to be a SAS format that does this? Thanks.

Answer 1

There does happen to be a format you can use. Here is a worked example using test data:
data test;
input datestring $;
datalines;
01/01/2017
;
run;
Using input converts the string value into a SAS date, and then the put function is used to create a character variable holding the representation you are looking for:
data test2;
set test;
date_as_date = input(datestring,ddmmyy10.);
date_formatted = put(date_as_date,worddate20.);
run;
The number 20 is used to describe a length that is long enough to hold the full value, using a lower number may result in truncation, e.g.
date_formatted = put(date_as_date,worddate3.);
put date_formatted=;
dateformatted=Jan

Answer 2

In some cases, the desired date format may NOT exist (in this case, it does 'worddate20.'), but as an example...
You could either write a function-style macro to convert a SAS date to "monname + day, year" format, e.g.
%MACRO FULLMDY(DT) ;
catx(', ',catx(' ',put(&DT,monname.),put(&DT,day.)),put(&DT,year4.))
%MEND ;
data example1 ;
dt = '26jul2017'd ;
fulldate = %FULLMDY(dt) ;
run ;
Or, you could build a custom format, covering all the dates which may exist in your data, e.g.
data alldates ;
retain fmtname 'FULLMDY' type 'N' ;
do dt = '01jan1900'd to '01jan2100'd ;
mdy = catx(', ',catx(' ',put(dt,monname.),put(dt,day.)),put(dt,year4.)) ;
output ;
end ;
rename dt = start
mdy = label ;
run ;
proc format cntlin=alldates ; run ;
data example2 ;
dt = '26jul2017'd ;
format dt fullmdy. ;
run ;