I'm going crazy trying to compare a date stored in an amper variable with a normal date. I need to find out if the month and year are the same.

Here's the code to store the first date:
[
TABLE FILE CIR_ACCOUNT_METRIC_400
SUM
MAX.ACTL_DT
ON TABLE HOLD AS HOLD_MAX_DATE FORMAT ALPHA
END
-RUN
-READ HOLD_MAX_DATE &MAX_DATE.A8 -* This returns 04272009


DEFINE FILE CIR_BANKRUPTCY_METRIC
Z_DAILYNEWIND/I1=IF ACTL_DT EQ &MAX_DATE THEN 1 ELSE 0; -* This works - it tells whether the dates are equal

DT_ACTL_DT/HYYMDm=HDTTM(ACTL_DT, 8, 'HYYMDm');
Z_MONTHLYNEWIND/D12.2=HDIFF(HDTTM(&MAX_DATE, 8, 'HYYMDm'),DT_ACTL_DT, 'MONTH','D12.2'); -* This fails - it gives answers like 139,057

]

I've tried using a combination of smart dates, HDIFF, HNAME, HDTTM and HINPUT with no success. Help!!

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Kerry,

Did you try dividing both dates by 100 and then comparing them?

Of course, you will have to put them in I8YYMD format first.

If you need the number of months difference between two dates, you may not need to convert them to date-time, just to date, using the DATECVT function, then use DATEDIF to determine the number of units difference (M for Month):

-SET &MAX_DATE = '04272009';

TABLE FILE EMPLOYEE
PRINT FIRST_NAME

COMPUTE NEW_HIRE_DATE/YYMD = DATECVT(HIRE_DATE, 'I6YMD', 'YYMD');

COMPUTE NEW_DAT_INC/YYMD = DATECVT(&MAX_DATE, 'I8MDYY', 'YYMD');

COMPUTE MONTHS_HIRED/I8 = DATEDIF(NEW_HIRE_DATE, NEW_DAT_INC, 'M');

BY LAST_NAME

WHERE TOTAL MONTHS_HIRED NE 0;
WHERE DEPARTMENT EQ 'PRODUCTION';
END

I'd like to do this compare within the DEFINE statement so I can set the indicator for each row. I still haven't figured out how to convert both dates to I8YYMD within the DEFINE.

Why not like this:

-SET &MAX_DATE = '04272009';

DEFINE FILE EMPLOYEE
NEW_HIRE_DATE/YYMD = DATECVT(HIRE_DATE, 'I6YMD', 'YYMD');
NEW_DAT_INC/YYMD = DATECVT(&MAX_DATE, 'I8MDYY', 'YYMD');
MONTHS_HIRED/I8 = DATEDIF(NEW_HIRE_DATE, NEW_DAT_INC, 'M');
END

TABLE FILE EMPLOYEE
PRINT 
FIRST_NAME
NEW_HIRE_DATE
NEW_DAT_INC
MONTHS_HIRED

BY LAST_NAME

WHERE MONTHS_HIRED NE 0;
WHERE DEPARTMENT EQ 'PRODUCTION';
END

Something like this should work for you:

-SET &MAXDATE = 04272009 ;                                         
                                                                   
DEFINE FILE CAR                                                    
CTR/I1 WITH COUNTRY = LAST CTR + 1 ;                               
ACTL/I8MDYY = DECODE CTR (1 01012009 2 02022009 3 03032008 ELSE 0);
                                                                   
MYI/I8MDYY WITH COUNTRY = &MAXDATE ;                               
MYMAX/YYM = MYI ;                                                  
MYB/YYM = ACTL ;                                                   
DIFF/I5 = MYMAX - MYB ;                                            
                                                                   
END                                                                
                                                                   
TABLE FILE CAR                                                     
PRINT ACTL MYI MYMAX MYB DIFF                                      
IF RECORDLIMIT EQ 3                                                
END                                                                
-RUN                                                               
                                                                   
PAGE     1                                                         
                                                                   
                                                                   
      ACTL         MYI  MYMAX    MYB       DIFF                    
      ----         ---  -----    ---       ----                    
01/01/2009  04/27/2009  2009/04  2009/01      3                    
02/02/2009  04/27/2009  2009/04  2009/02      2                    
03/03/2008  04/27/2009  2009/04  2008/03     13                    

Francis the DATEDIF function won't work for me because I need to know if the months are the same not if the difference is less than a month. I did use your code to convert my amper date.

Here's how I got it to work using HNAME:
[
-SET &MAX_DATE = '04272009';

DEFINE FILE CIR_BANKRUPTCY_METRIC
Z_MONTHLYNEWIND/I1=IF HNAME(HDTTM(ACTL_DT, 8, 'HYYMDm'), 'MONTH','A10') EQ HNAME(HDTTM(DATECVT(&MAX_DATE, 'I8MDYY', 'YYMD'), 8, 'HYYMDm'), 'MONTH','A10') THEN 1 ELSE 0;
END
]

Edward, I didn't get a chance to try your solution.

Thanks everyone for your help.

Here's a freebee to try on for size:

-* File date2variabl_comp.fex
-SET &VAR_DATE = '011982';
DEFINE FILE EMPLOYEE
VAR_DATE_MNYY/MYY = &VAR_DATE;
HIR_DATE_MNYY/MYY = HIRE_DATE ;
SAME_MONTH/A3 = IF VAR_DATE_MNYY EQ HIR_DATE_MNYY THEN 'YES' ELSE 'no' ;
END
TABLE FILE EMPLOYEE
PRINT 
VAR_DATE_MNYY AS 'YYYY/MM,Check'
HIR_DATE_MNYY AS 'Hired,Mo/Year'
SAME_MONTH    AS 'Hired,During,&VAR_DATE'
BY FIRST_NAME AS 'First Name'
BY LAST_NAME  AS 'Last Name'
-*Use this as required: WHERE SAME_MONTH EQ 'YES';
HEADING CENTER
"These employees were hired during <VAR_DATE_MNYY"
WHERE DEPARTMENT EQ 'PRODUCTION';
ON TABLE SET PAGE OFF
END

Edit out the "27" from what your -READ in (-READ HOLD_MAX_DATE &MAX_DATE.A8 -* This returns 04272009, then EDIT &MAX_DATE as required to get only the 04/2009)