Automatic date selection from Excel import

[justincn]

Hello everyone,

Is it possible to import an Excel file without having to hardcode the start date? For example, if I have the following code

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import(page=DATA) %data range ="Sheet1" @freq q 1980

My question is this: Is there a way to get around having to add 1980 and automatically detect the start and end dates of the sheet?

For reference, the data looks like this (note the second and third series begin in 1990)

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quarter sales laborforce household Q1-80 813038 Q2-80 795216 Q3-80 815587 Q4-80 850848 Q1-81 856297 Q2-81 902501 Q3-81 899384 Q4-81 890007

[EViews Gareth]

Not with the non-standard date format you have. If the dates are written in a standard format, EViews will generally interpret it just fine.

A possible work around would be to import the file into a new EViews page, completely undated, then create a date series based on the date format you are using, and then copy from that new page to your actual destination page.

[justincn]

Thanks, Gareth.

Is there a standard format that would work quarterly dates?

1980Q1? 1980-Q1? etc.

[EViews Gareth]

1980Q1 should work. But also just the date of the first day of the quarter.

[EViews Gareth]

You could also probably get away with this, with your initial format:

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import(page=data) %data @id @date(@dateval(quarter,"[Q]Q[-]YY")) @destid @date

[justincn]

Thanks, Gareth!