Convert string with different format to date

Question

I have a table with a string column (varchar(200)) that contain a date in different format. For example

may 24 1983 12:00AM
1981-01-13 00:00:00
1979         


        

Answer 1

I would try to do this using a server side language, perhaps PHP and use strotime to generate a pretty date.

Otherwise, the only other option I see is to start writing CASEs to read possible formats, and output using DATE_FORMAT. Perhaps something like:

Pseudo-code (for case may 24 1983 12:00AM)

CASE
    WHEN col (after first space is some digit) 
        AND (after second space is 4 digits)
        AND (after third space has 'AM' or 'PM')
    THEN
        DATE_FORMAT(col, '%....')

You can also trying using REGEXP to for pattern matching.