At 08:03 PM 11/28/2008, Barkat Ullah wrote:
>I have a couple of date variable with dates entered as string
>variable both as dd/mm/yyyy and yyyy/mm/dd. Is there a way to
>convert this into date format as dd/mm/yy?
First (and it often matters), SPSS dates are not *in* a format such
as "dd/mm/yy". They are in an SPSS internal form; they can be
*displayed* in many formats (see Date Formats in the Command Syntax Reference).
Second, "dd/mm/yy" is not an available display format. (Most likely
to avoid confusion with the American format "mm/dd/yy"".) Format
EDATE8 will display dates as "dd.mm.yy". (The components of the date
are separated by periods.)
If the variable is named CharDate, you can convert to an SPSS date
that displays with EDATE8 as follows (untested):
NUMERIC Date (EDATE8).
* If the date is "dd/mm/yyyy", this should work, .
* although that isn't obvious the first time you .
* read the Command Syntax Reference: .
COMPUTE Date = NUMBER(CharDate,EDATE10).
* If the date is "yyyy/mm/dd", this should work: .
COMPUTE Date = NUMBER(CharDAte,SDATE10).
If instances of both forms occur in the same variable, you'll need a
little logic to determine which in each instance.
-Best of luck,
Richard
=====================
To manage your subscription to SPSSX-L, send a message to
[hidden email] (not to SPSSX-L), with no body text except the
command. To leave the list, send the command
SIGNOFF SPSSX-L
For a list of commands to manage subscriptions, send the command
INFO REFCARD
Locked
