SQL Server datetime LIKE select?

Question

in MySQL

select * from record where register_date like \'2009-10-10%\'

What is the syntax in SQL Server?

Answer 1

You can also use convert to make the date searchable using LIKE. For example,

select convert(VARCHAR(40),create_date,121) , * from sys.objects where     convert(VARCHAR(40),create_date,121) LIKE '%17:34%'

Answer 2

There is a very flaky coverage of the LIKE operator for dates in SQL Server. It only works using American date format. As an example you could try:

... WHERE register_date LIKE 'oct 10 2009%'

I've tested this in SQL Server 2005 and it works, but you'll really need to try different combinations. Odd things I have noticed are:

• You only seem to get all or nothing for different sub fields within the date, for instance, if you search for 'apr 2%' you only get anything in the 20th's - it omits 2nd's.

• Using a single underscore '_' to represent a single (wildcard) character does not wholly work, for instance, WHERE mydate LIKE 'oct _ 2010%' will not return all dates before the 10th - it returns nothing at all, in fact!

• The format is rigid American: 'mmm dd yyyy hh:mm'

I have found it difficult to nail down a process for LIKEing seconds, so if anyone wants to take this a bit further, be my guest!

Hope this helps.

Answer 3

I am a little late to this thread but in fact there is direct support for the like operator in MS SQL server.

As documented in LIKE help if the datatype is not a string it is attempted to convert it to a string. And as documented in cast\convert documentation:

default datetime conversion to string is type 0 (,100) which is mon dd yyyy hh:miAM (or PM).

If you have a date like this in the DB:

2015-06-01 11:52:59.057

and you do queries like this:

select * from wws_invoice where invdate like 'Jun%'
select * from wws_invoice where invdate like 'Jun 1%'
select * from wws_invoice where invdate like 'Jun 1 %'
select * from wws_invoice where invdate like 'Jun 1 2015:%'
select * from wws_invoice where invdate like 'Jun ? 2015%'
...
select * from wws_invoice where invdate like 'Jun 1 2015 11:52AM'

you get that row.

However, this date format suggests that it is a DateTime2, then documentation says:

21 or 121 -- ODBC canonical (with milliseconds) default for time, date, datetime2, and datetimeoffset. -- yyyy-mm-dd hh:mi:ss.mmm(24h)

That makes it easier and you can use:

select * from wws_invoice where invdate like '2015-06-01%'

and get the invoice record. Here is a demo code:

DECLARE @myDates TABLE (myDate DATETIME2);
INSERT INTO @myDates (myDate)
VALUES
('2015-06-01 11:52:59.057'),
('2015-06-01 11:52:59.054'),
('2015-06-01 13:52:59.057'),
('2015-06-01 14:52:59.057');

SELECT * FROM @myDates WHERE myDate LIKE '2015-06-01%';
SELECT * FROM @myDates WHERE myDate LIKE '2015-06-01 11%';
SELECT * FROM @myDates WHERE myDate LIKE '2015-06-01 11:52:59%';
SELECT * FROM @myDates WHERE myDate LIKE '2015-06-01 11:52:59.054%';

Doing datetime searches in SQL server without any conversion to string has always been problematic. Getting each date part is an overkill (which unlikely would use an index). Probably a better way when you don't use string conversion would be to use range checks. ie:

select * from record 
where register_date >= '20091010' and register_date < '20091011';

Answer 4

I solved my problem that way. Thank you for suggestions for improvements. Example in C#.

string dd, mm, aa, trc, data;
dd = nData.Text.Substring(0, 2);
mm = nData.Text.Substring(3, 2);
aa = nData.Text.Substring(6, 4);
trc = "-";
data = aa + trc + mm + trc + dd;

"Select * From bdPedidos Where Data Like '%" + data + "%'";

Answer 5

There's no direct support for LIKE operator against DATETIME variables, but you can always cast the DATETIME to a VARCHAR:

SELECT (list of fields) FROM YourTable
WHERE CONVERT(VARCHAR(25), register_date, 126) LIKE '2009-10-10%'

Check the MSDN docs for a complete list of available "styles" in the CONVERT function.

Marc