I am using asp.net/c# to build an application.I am accepting dates in British Format .
Suppose a user enters a date in the format 02/04/2001 , it gets stored in the table properly.However when i retrieve it the date is coming in this format 4/2/2001. I know that is coming in American Format , that's ok for me , my issue is that it is removing 0'sfrom numbers which are single digit. Will i have to check for such numbers and padding a zero before it and then display dates.Is there any way for this.
Thanks
You can format a date retrieved from SQL Server in .Net without worrying about the underlying value. Use culture-specific formatting if desired.
Standard Date and Time Format Strings
Custom Date Time Formats in .Net
Formatting Date and Time for a Specific Culture
Just to be clear (per Damien's comment) I am making the assumption that you are storing your values as Dates, DateTimes, DateTime2s, etc. in SQL not as strings. If that's not the case, conversion to a proper type should be the first step.
Related
My report has a data lookup table with dates in dd/mm/yyyy formart. When I bring it into Crystal it changes the data type to date-time instead of just date.
I tried converting to just a date within Crystal, but when I run a lookup based on parameters (10-1-2016 - 10-31-2016) I get a running cycle of dates. As soon as it hits 10-31-2016 it starts over from 10-1-2016.
I tried setting it to not provider duplicate values to no avail. How I could be doing this better?
If you just need to display the date without the time value, you can format the field when it displays in your report as "System Default Short Format" in the Format Editor. (Date and Time tab)
Otherwise leave the date as-is and create a seperate Formula Date({table.Field}) to use as "just the date". This way you keep the original datetime value as-is, but can use your new Formula when the time value needs to be removed.
The following code, d has the current date. Depending on the current locale, it will return a date.
Dim d As Date = Date.Today
Note: I don't want to check whether the date is valid or not, but rather to know, whether it is in a 'dd-MM-yyyy', 'MM-dd-yyyy' or any other date format..
EDIT (29/06/2012 - Friday):
The reason I am asking this question is because I am sick of trying to deal with dates in ASP.NET. I build a project on my local PC, where dates are "dd/MM/yyyy" and as soon as I upload it to the production server (usually in US, hence MM/dd/yyyy) the code breaks.
So I usually deal with dates by converting them into yyyyMMdd format and also keep them in the database like that. That is the closest I get to an exception-free coding.
In this case, it makes sense that there is no way to get the format from a returned date string. Therefore, I will carry on with my approach.
Date.Today is a DateTime, not a string. Thus, it does not have an inherent format.
It will return a Date, which I believe is a VB alias for DateTime. (If it's not, just use DateTime explicitly to be idiomatically .NET rather than using the legacy VB types.)
A DateTime value itself doesn't have a format, any more than an int is in decimal or hex. It's only when you convert the value to a string that a format is applied, and then it depends on how you convert it to a string. You shouldn't use a string conversion until you really need to, and then you should control the format so that it works the way you want it to.
As far as possible, convert text data into its "natural" type as early as possible, and keep it in that type for as long as possible. For example, avoid converting to strings when passing values in SQL queries - instead, use parameterized SQL where you can specify the parameter value as a DateTime.
What you want to know is found in:
CultureInfo.CurrentCulture.DateTimeFormat.ShortDatePattern
This is the format string that will be used when you call
d.ToShortDateString()
You need to be TOLD; there's no other way. Take for example:
6/12/2012
It's valid in dd/mm/yyyy or mm/dd/yyyy format
Which one do you pick if you don't know the locale/format beforehand?
Date values don't have an intrinsic format. In other words, you can format the date to any string representation you need but the opposite conversion from a string back to a Date value requires that you know in which format you are receiving this date string.
I am developing an application using ASP.NET (C#) and SQLServer 2008. In my database i have a field DepositDate and datatype is "DATE". On my data entry form i am taking dates using jquery datepicker and its returning date in textbox as dd/mm/yyyy format as per user requirement whereas i noticed in database its keeping date values as yyyy-mm-dd..i am confused.
While saving record i am getting not a valid date time as the only available conversion format is Convert.ToDateTime and my data requirement is DATE only.
Can anyone suggest solution how to deal with it.?
here is the code
DateTime thedate = DateTime.Parse(txt_IDate.Text);
DateTime mdate = DateTime.Parse(txt_Mdate.Text);
db.AddInParameter(cmd, "#SIssueDate", System.Data.DbType.Date);
db.SetParameterValue(cmd, "#SIssueDate", thedate.ToShortDateString());
db.AddInParameter(cmd, "#SMaturityDate", System.Data.DbType.DateTime);
db.SetParameterValue(cmd, "#SMaturityDate", mdate.ToShortDateString());
Why are you setting the parameter values to strings in the first place? Just use the DateTime values themselves:
db.AddInParameter(cmd, "#SIssueDate", DbType.Date);
db.SetParameterValue(cmd, "#SIssueDate", thedate);
db.AddInParameter(cmd, "#SMaturityDate", DbType.DateTime);
db.SetParameterValue(cmd, "#SMaturityDate", mdate);
I doubt that your database is storing the values in any particular string format... they're not strings, they're dates. It's like asking whether a database stores an integer in a hex or decimal format... it just stores the number.
Basically, you need to parse the user's input data in the appropriate format coming in (which presumably you're already doing) and then format it again when you fetch it. Aside from the presentation layer, you should only ever think of it as a date value, without any associated format.
It may be helpful to imagine two users from different countries, who each view a list of dates. The would each want to see those dates in a format appropriate for their culture - so they may see different representations, but they'd be seeing the same actual dates.
If that suits You, You can do it like thedate.ToString("yyyy-MM-dd") and You will get only 2011-01-20
I have never used Informix before and I'm trying to write a query that will return records over the last 365 days.
Here is the query I have been trying to use:
Select * from Visit where vis_mod_dt between today-365 and today;
That returns no records even though I know that there is data for the last 365 days. I am guessing that the vis_mod_dt in not a true date column, although it displays as '12/31/1899' I have tried to cast this column using:
select * from visit where date(vis_mod_dt) between today-365 and today;
This still returns no data.
Any ideas?
Informix DATE format
Be aware that the date 1899-12-31 corresponds to the internal date representation of zero (0). That is, internally, Informix stores DATE values in a 4-byte integer, and counts the number of days since 1899-12-31, so Day 1 was 1900-01-01 (and since it knows that 1900 was not a leap year, Day 60 was 1900-03-01).
That fact makes me worry about what is in your table. However, if the data in your table cannot be converted to a DATE upon request, normally you would get an error.
What is your table schema?
It would be sensible for you to establish the schema either using DB-Access and the Info/Tables option, or use DB-Schema:
dbschema -d dbase -t visit
The DB-Schema output is more suitable for adding to your question.
The query expressions using 'TODAY-365' and 'TODAY' should work fine - if there is data to select.
DBDATE environment variable
There is an environment variable, DBDATE, that you may need to set to get things to work - to convert from a string representation to dates. Since you are probably based in the UK (from your icon), then you may want and need to set the value of DBDATE to:
export DBDATE=DMY4/
This says that dates consist of the day, the month, a 4-digit year and the '/' is used as the preferred separator. You won't be surprised to learn that the presumed default value is usually 'MDY4/', for US format; I use 'Y4MD-' habitually, so I see DATE value the same as DATETIME YEAR TO DAY, which is the ISO 8601:2004 notation for a date. (It has many benefits: it is unambiguous, and naive sorting algorithms sort such dates into date order.) There's actually a lot of mechanism in the background in IDS (IBM Informix Dynamic Server - which, I assume, is the DBMS that you are using; there are some alternatives that are also Informix DBMS) such that strings with 2-digit dates will usually be converted correctly (but they are ambiguous and undesirable), and separators other than '/' will be recognized on input, but the slash will be used on 'output' (when converting DATE to string).
Information needed to improve the answer to this question - 1st Edition.
If what is here does not help, then I recommend editing your question to include:
The table schema.
A few (2-4) rows of data that you think should be selected but aren't.
Platform and version information. It can help to have the version down to the level of detail of IDS 11.50.FC4W1; occasionally it matters. Most usually, the first three digits are what affect things, of course.
If your table is big (many columns), try to select the key columns (vis_mod_dt is by far the most important one). Ideally, you won't need any scroll bars in the display.
Make sure you don't include any sensitive information.
Information needed to improve the answer to this question - 2nd Edition
I will help you if you pay attention to the questions I ask you. I cannot help you if you do not pay attention to the questions I ask. And please edit your question rather than adding information as an 'answer'.
What is the table schema? What is the output from:
SELECT t.tabid, t.tabname, c.colno, c.colname, c.coltype, c.collength
FROM "informix".systables AS t, "informix".syscolumns AS c
WHERE t.tabid = c.tabid
AND t.tabname = "visit"
ORDER BY t.tabid, c.colno;
What do you get from:
SELECT TODAY, TODAY-365 FROM "informix".systables WHERE tabid = 1;
Do you have the environment variable DBDATE set? If so, what is its value?
Do you have the environment variables CLIENT_LOCALE or DB_LOCALE set? If so, what are their values?
Which version of Informix are you using?
Which platform are you using it on?
Which language or tool are you using to run the query.
Note: if you cannot copy'n'paste the queries above, then you probably do not need to include the quoted '"informix".' attributes on the system catalog; however, as written, the queries will work on any extant Informix database - OnLine 5.x, SE 5.x or 7.x, IDS 7.x, XPS 8.x, IDS 9.x or 10.x or 11.x - and any mode of database (unlogged, logged, MODE ANSI). I'd use the JOIN notation except that some of the older versions don't support it - though you have to be on very old versions for that to be a problem.
This is a little confusing, because when I run the following, I get data:
select count(*) from visit where vis_mod_dt between "10/01/2008" and "10/01/2009"
how about unloading the table to ascii file, examine the unloaded vis_mod_dt values to see if they conform to DBDATE=MDY4 (mmddyyyy) format?.. if they do, ALTER vis_mod_dt to TYPE DATE if it's not a DATE column, then LOAD the unloaded table back in.
the: "BETWEEN today-365 AND today" part of your SELECT statement works for me in my apps.
I've found a similar question on stack overflow, but it didn't really answer the question I have. I need to make sure that my asp.net application is formatting the date dd/mm/yyyy the same as my SQL Server 2005.
How do I verify the date culture (if that's what it's called) of the server matches how I've programmed my app? Are there specific database settings and OS settings? Is it table-specific? I don't want to transpose my days and months.
thank you
When you get a DateTime out of the database, it should be in a non-cultured format (like the DateTime object, based on the number of ticks since a certain date). It is only when you are converting that value into a string that you need to be concerned with culture. In those cases, you can use yourDateTimeValue.ToString("dd/MM/yyyy", CultureInfo.InvariantCulture) to make sure that the information displays correctly.
I belive that if you use SqlParameters ADO.NET will take care of the rest and you don't have to worry about it. Besides, it's good for defending against SQL Injection attacks too! :)
** Watch out because SQL DateTime columns are non-nullable and their minimum value is 1/1/1753 while .net DateTimes are non-nullable with min values of 1/1/0001. **
If you're pulling data from a real DateTime column, by default it will always be in the same standard format. For saving the data to the column, you might want to specify the SqlDbType.DateTime in your parameter.
i ripped this off of http://bytes.com/forum/thread767920.html :
com.Parameters.Add("#adate", SqlDbType.DateTime).Value = DateTime.Now;
Well, if you keep datetime fields in the DB you shouldn't worry about it.
As long as you keep the dates in app strongly typed (DateTime variables) and send the dates through prepared statements with DBParameter/SqlParameter your DB will take them as is.
If you use strings to hold your dates in code, some casts will ensure you send the right values:
string sqlCmd = #"SELECT *
FROM MyTable
WHERE MyDateField = CONVERT(datetime, '{0}', 101)";
// assuming myDateString is a string with a date in the local format
sqlCmd = string.Format(sqlCmd,
Convert.ToDateTime(myDateString).ToString("yyyyMMdd"));
(the code is ugly, but hopefully it gets the point across)
As others have mentioned, you should be OK as far as storing datetimes culturally. What I would recommend is that you store all of your times as standard UTC time. In SQL Server 2005 and older there is no way to store time zone information, but if everything is stored in universal time, you should be OK because the time can be converted to the local time later on.
SQL Server 2008 does have some datatypes that are aware of time zones, and if you're using .NET 3.5 there are tools to assist with time zone handling/conversions.
Definitely keep times in universal format. This will make a world of a difference if you have to work in multiple time zones.