Setting System Options (5)

Setting Up Your SAS Session

Setting System Options

How Four-Digit Years Are Handled

Remember, the value of the YEARCUTOFF= system option only affects two-digit year values. A date value that contains a four-digit year value will be interpreted correctly even if it does not fall within the 100-year span set by the YEARCUTOFF= system option.

Date Expression	SAS Date Informat	Interpreted As
06Oct59	`date7.`	06Oct1959
17Mar1783	`date9.`	17Mar1783

However, if you specify an inappropriate field width, you will receive incorrect results. Notice that the date expression in the table below contains a 4-digit year value. The informat does not specify enough positions to read the entire value, so the last two digits of the year are not read and SAS software uses 17 as the last two digits of the year.

Date Expression	SAS Date Informat	Interpreted As
17Mar1783	`date7.`	17Mar2017

Points to Remember

When you work with date values,

check the default value of the YEARCUTOFF= system option and change it if necessary
specify the proper informat for reading a date value or the proper format for writing a date value
specify the correct field width so that the entire date value is read or written.