How to INSERT date into SQL database date column using dateTimePicker?

Question

I have a birthdate column of type Date in sql database

And in my application I use a dateTimePicker to get the birth date

But when i am trying to insert the date taken from the dateTimePicker:

I get an error :

Incorrect syntax near '12'

And when I try to debug the code I find that the value taken from the dateTimePicker is

Date = {3/21/2015 12:00:00 AM}

The CODE:

//cmd is sql command
cmd.CommandText="INSERT INTO person (birthdate) VALUES("+dateTimePicker.Value.Date+")";
//con is sql connection
con.Open();
cmd.ExecuteNonQuery();
con.Close();

Answer 1

What you really should do is use parameters to avoid SQL injection attacks - and it also frees you from string formatting dates - also a good thing!

//cmd is sql command
cmd.CommandText = "INSERT INTO dbo.Person(birthdate) VALUES(@Birthdate);";

cmd.Parameters.Add("@Birthdate", SqlDbType.Date).Value = dateTimePicker.Value.Date;

//con is sql connection
con.Open();
cmd.ExecuteNonQuery();
con.Close();

Also, it's a recommend best practice to put your SqlConnection, SqlCommand and SqlDataReader into using(....) { .... } blocks to ensure proper disposal:

string connectionString = ".......";
string query = "INSERT INTO dbo.Person(birthdate) VALUES(@Birthdate);";

using (SqlConnection con = new SqlConnection(connectionString))
using (SqlCommand cmd = new SqlCommand(query, conn))
{
     cmd.Parameters.Add("@Birthdate", SqlDbType.Date).Value = dateTimePicker.Value.Date;

     con.Open();
     cmd.ExecuteNonQuery();
     con.Close();
} 

Answer 2

As mentioned before the best practice is to use parameters, but if you really need to use a TSQL statement from source you should use date in the format: yyyymmdd

cmd.CommandText="INSERT INTO person (birthdate) VALUES('"+dateTimePicker.Value.Date.ToString("yyyyMMdd")+"')";

Answer 3

Try including quotes:

cmd.CommandText="INSERT INTO person (birthdate) VALUES('"+dateTimePicker.Value.Date+"')";

I'd recommend using parameters too.

Answer 4

Try this as string format:

cmd.CommandText="INSERT INTO person(birthdate)VALUES('"+dateTimePicker.Value.Date+"')";

Answer 5

dateTimePicker stores values as 1/1/1900 12:00:00 AM so you should use DATETIME if you're trying to store it since DATETIME's format is: YYYY-MM-DD HH:MI:SS.

You can print the dateTimePicker value using

MessageBox.Show(dateTimePicker.Value.ToString());

to see for yourself.