How to set a DateTime variable in SQL Server 2008?

Question

SQL Server 2008 is not doing what I expected with DateTime. It doesn\'t let me set DateTime variables, no matter what date format I use.

Wh

Answer 1

You want to make the format/style explicit and don't rely on interpretation based on local settings (which may vary among your clients infrastructure).

DECLARE @Test AS DATETIME
SET @Test = CONVERT(DATETIME, '2011-02-15 00:00:00', 120) -- yyyy-MM-dd hh:mm:ss
SELECT @Test

While there is a plethora of styles, you may want to remember few

• 126 (ISO 8601): yyyy-MM-ddThh:mm:ss(.mmm)
• 120: yyyy-MM-dd hh:mm:ss
• 112: yyyyMMdd

Note that the T in the ISO 8601 is actually the letter T and not a variable.