How to Use the TODAY Function in SAS (With Examples)

You can use the TODAY function in SAS to generate the current date.

The following examples show how to use the TODAY function in practice.

Example 1: Use TODAY Function to Generate Current Date (Without Formatting)

By default, the TODAY function generates the current date as a numeric SAS date value, which is the number of days since January 1, 1960:

/*create dataset that contains current date*/
data my_data;
    today_date=today();
run;

/*view dataset*/
proc print data=my_data;

The TODAY function generated the value 23135.

Since this article is being written on May 5, 2023, this means it has been 23,135 days since January 1, 1960.

Example 2: Use TODAY Function to Generate Current Date (DDMMYY10. Formatting)

The following code shows how to use the TODAY function to generate the current date using DDMMYY10. formatting:

/*create dataset that contains current date*/
data my_data;
    today_date=today();
    format today_date ddmmyy10.;
    put today_date;
run;

/*view dataset*/
proc print data=my_data;

The TODAY function generated the current date and the ddmmyy10. format option formatted it as 05/05/2023.

Example 3: Use TODAY Function to Generate Current Date (DATE9. Formatting)

The following code shows how to use the TODAY function to generate the current date using DATE9. formatting:

/*create dataset that contains current date*/
data my_data;
    today_date=today();
    format today_date date9.;
    put today_date;
run;

/*view dataset*/
proc print data=my_data;