CODEWITHSUNDEEP
variablesdatesas
Murray
Murray

Reputation: 719

Date as variable name

I'd like to use the date as a variable name. I understand I'll need to append a character to the front and also that it's not a good way to store data (it's purely for report aesthetics). I've tried %eval() but can't solve it.

%let var_date = '_'||today();
data date;
    %eval(&var_date) = .;
run;

I'd like the variable name to be _02JUN2011. Thanks for any help.

Upvotes: 1

Views: 2295

Answers (3)

Murray
Murray

Reputation: 719

This does what I'm looking for. Is this maintainable?

data date1;
    date = put(today(),date9.);
    text = '';
    do i = 1 to 5;
        output;
    end;
run;
proc transpose data = date1 out = date2;
    by i;
    id date;
    var text;
run;

Upvotes: 0

sasfrog
sasfrog

Reputation: 2460

I don't think you want to take this approach. You should use labels in PROC REPORT (or any other reporting PROC), or pivot your data dynamically instead. Perhaps if you describe the data you've got and the output you want, people here will be able to help find an appropriate solution.

For your edification though, the following code does what you're trying to do in your post:

%let var_date=_%sysfunc(today(),date9.);

data test;
  &var_date=.;
run;

Upvotes: 3

Stephen
Stephen

Reputation: 3432

You really want to use a hash - this is not maintainable code..

Upvotes: -1

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