Passing sas variable into a sql pass through statement - sql

Question

Using SAS I'm pulling data from a SQL data base using a pass through for speed as the DB's are quite large. The below code works as expected.
%let expectdate1 = '2013-07-03';*/
proc sql;
connect to ***** as abc (tdpid=***** user='****' password='*****' );
create table Searched_data as
select * from connection to dss(
SELECT *
FROM database.tablename
WHERE CAPTURE_DT >= '2013-07-01' and CAPTURE_DT <= &expectdate1
);
disconnect from abc;
quit;
The issues arises when I wan to have expectate1 parameterised.
so I replace
%let expectdate1 = '2013-07-03';*/
with
%let expectdate1 = put(Date(),YYMMDD10.);
This doesnt work and the error Im getting is something like
....WHERE CAPTURE_DT >= '2013-07-01' and CAPTURE_DT <= put(Date(),YYMMDD10) .....
So its not evaluating my date code and instead its passing the actual code to SQL and not the resultant string.

Answer 1

Shorack is correct that the PUT statement can not be used with %SYSFUNC, however you can use PUTN successfully.
You should simply need the following.
%LET EXPECTDATE1 = %SYSFUNC(PUTN(%SYSFUNC(DATE()),YYMMDD10.));
%put EXPECTDATE1=&EXPECTDATE1.;
SASLOG:
EXPECTDATE1=2013-08-05

Answer 2

Note: edited for the single quotes you need.
Let me first provide a solution that works, then explain why your approach does not work.
Use this piece of code instead:
data _NULL_;
call symput("expectdate1",cats("'",put(Date(),YYMMDD10.)),"'");
run;
The above piece of code will create your string and then put it into the expectdate1 macro variable.
So, why was your code not working?
That is because you do not make a distinction between SAS functions and SAS macro functions.
put(Date(),YYMMDD10.) are not macro functions (easily distinguished because they start with a percentage sign. -> % <-)
So SAS Macro does not evaluate it and just puts the piece of code into your SQL statement, literally.
Now there is something called the %sysfunc function. It is a macro function that will perform the enclosed normal function.
So %sysfunc(Date()) would be resolved by SAS macro before setting the macro variable expectdate.
Note that each function needs to be enclosed by the %sysfunc function, i.e.,
%let someVariable = %sysfunc(mean(max(1,3),5)); /*WRONG*/
%let someVariable = %sysfunc(mean(%sysfunc(max(1,3)),5)); /*RIGHT*/
That being said, it does not work for some SAS functions and put is one of them. That is why i provided the solution on top: use a data step to prepare it any way you like and write the result into a macro variable.