Creating a single datetime variable out of two variables

[Johannes Mischlinger]

Dear forum users,

I am using a large dataset which stores ‘dates’ in a string variable (e.g. 2021-01-05) and ‘times’ in a separate variable (e.g. 23:25).

Can somebody advise how I can create a single datetime variable using information stored in the date and time variable?

Best wishes,
Hannes

[Andrew Musau]

clear
input str15 date str7 time
"2021-01-05" "23:25"
end

gen double wanted= clock(date+"-"+time, "YMDhm")
format wanted %tc

Res.:

. l

     +-----------------------------------------+
     |       date    time               wanted |
     |-----------------------------------------|
  1. | 2021-01-05   23:25   05jan2021 23:25:00 |
     +-----------------------------------------+