Example 5 (DATE command)

DATE Y 1950 Q 2 M. 

• This example creates four variables (DATE_, YEAR_, QUARTER_, and MONTH_) in a file where observations are quarterly, starting with April 1950.
• The starting value for MONTH_ is inferred from QUARTER_.
• This specification is equivalent to DATE Y 1950 Q M 4. Here, the starting value for QUARTER_ (2) would be inferred from MONTH.

DATE reports the following:

  Name        Label

  YEAR_       YEAR, not periodic
  QUARTER_    QUARTER, period 4
  MONTH_      MONTH, period 12
  DATE_       DATE.  FORMAT:  "MMM YYYY"

The following is a partial listing of the new variables:

   YEAR_ QUARTER_ MONTH_ DATE_

    1950     2       4   APR 1950
    1950     2       5   MAY 1950
    1950     2       6   JUN 1950
    1950     3       7   JUL 1950
    1950     3       8   AUG 1950
     ...
    1988     4      11   NOV 1988
    1988     4      12   DEC 1988
    1989     1       1   JAN 1989
    1989     1       2   FEB 1989
    1989     1       3   MAR 1989
    1989     2       4   APR 1989
    1989     2       5   MAY 1989
    1989     2       6   JUN 1989
    1989     3       7   JUL 1989
    1989     3       8   AUG 1989
    1989     3       9   SEP 1989