How do you convert a character date to a SAS date?

To convert a character date to a SAS date, the method of using the INPUT function combined with an appropriate date informat is essential because it allows SAS to interpret the character string as a date correctly. The INPUT function reads the character date and applies the specified informat to convert that string into a SAS date value, which is stored as the number of days since January 1, 1960.

Using the INPUT function is crucial because SAS does not automatically recognize character strings as date values; therefore, the informat tells SAS how to interpret the various components of the character date (such as day, month, and year). For example, if you have a character date like '01JAN2023', using the INPUT function with the informat 'DATE9.' would stem from the fact that "DATE9." is designed to handle this specific format.

The other options do not successfully accomplish the conversion from character to SAS date. The PUT function, for instance, is used for converting numeric values to character values and applying formats, but it would not work for this conversion. The DATEPART function is meant for extracting the date portion from a datetime value, not for converting a character to a date. Lastly, while date arithmetic can manipulate dates, it does not provide a