finding bad date

I have a database where a varchar field is being used to store dates. I wrot
e
the following function to check if the data is a valid date. If it is not a
valid date, Null is returned.
ALTER function f_ToDate(@.inDate varchar(50))
returns datetime
begin
declare @.returndate datetime
if isdate(@.inDate) = 0
select @.returndate = null
else
select @.returndate = convert(datetime,@.inDate,101)
return @.returndate
end
In my database, I have a table called Generation with a field called
CreateDate. When I run the following query, I get an error message stating
that “syntax error converting datetime from character string”
select dbo.f_ToDate(Generation.CreationDate) from Generation
To check, I ran the following query and it returned all null records which
is expected
select CreationDate from general where isdate(CreationDate) = 0
The following returns no records which is expected.
select CreationDate from general where isdate(CreationDate) = 0 and
CreationDate is not Null.
I can’t find the record that is causing “select
dbo.f_ToDate(Generation.CreationDate) from Generation” to fail.I have had a similar issue w/ Dates. A quick and dirty way that I used was t
o
export out the records using DTS to a table that mirrored the working one.
Only change I made was to change the varchar date field to a true datetime
field in the temp table. In my dts package I set the max number of errors to
the max (999) and started the export.
In my case I had 632 fewer records in my temp table after the export. I ran
a NOT EXISTS against the tables and was able to find the 632 records w/ bad
dates in my production table.
If the number of records w/ bad dates is GT 999, you will have to do the
export in bacthes to find all the bad recs.
Just a thought!
"Emma" wrote:

> I have a database where a varchar field is being used to store dates. I wr
ote
> the following function to check if the data is a valid date. If it is not
a
> valid date, Null is returned.
> ALTER function f_ToDate(@.inDate varchar(50))
> returns datetime
> begin
> declare @.returndate datetime
> if isdate(@.inDate) = 0
> select @.returndate = null
> else
> select @.returndate = convert(datetime,@.inDate,101)
> return @.returndate
> end
>
> In my database, I have a table called Generation with a field called
> CreateDate. When I run the following query, I get an error message stating
> that “syntax error converting datetime from character string”
> select dbo.f_ToDate(Generation.CreationDate) from Generation
> To check, I ran the following query and it returned all null records which
> is expected
> select CreationDate from general where isdate(CreationDate) = 0
> The following returns no records which is expected.
> select CreationDate from general where isdate(CreationDate) = 0 and
> CreationDate is not Null.
> I can’t find the record that is causing “select
> dbo.f_ToDate(Generation.CreationDate) from Generation” to fail.
>|||Emma,
The convert function with style 101 is supposed to be used when converting
from datetime to char or varchar. Can you execute:
select case when isdate(CreationDate) = 0 then null else convert(datetime,
CreationDate)
from Generation
AMB
"Emma" wrote:

> I have a database where a varchar field is being used to store dates. I wr
ote
> the following function to check if the data is a valid date. If it is not
a
> valid date, Null is returned.
> ALTER function f_ToDate(@.inDate varchar(50))
> returns datetime
> begin
> declare @.returndate datetime
> if isdate(@.inDate) = 0
> select @.returndate = null
> else
> select @.returndate = convert(datetime,@.inDate,101)
> return @.returndate
> end
>
> In my database, I have a table called Generation with a field called
> CreateDate. When I run the following query, I get an error message stating
> that “syntax error converting datetime from character string”
> select dbo.f_ToDate(Generation.CreationDate) from Generation
> To check, I ran the following query and it returned all null records which
> is expected
> select CreationDate from general where isdate(CreationDate) = 0
> The following returns no records which is expected.
> select CreationDate from general where isdate(CreationDate) = 0 and
> CreationDate is not Null.
> I can’t find the record that is causing “select
> dbo.f_ToDate(Generation.CreationDate) from Generation” to fail.
>|||Thanks Jay for your response. I did just what you said. The number of record
s
exported to the temp table was the same as in my original table, and the
query work on the temp table and not on the original. I can’t figure it ou
t.
"Jay Kusch" wrote:
> I have had a similar issue w/ Dates. A quick and dirty way that I used was
to
> export out the records using DTS to a table that mirrored the working one.
> Only change I made was to change the varchar date field to a true datetime
> field in the temp table. In my dts package I set the max number of errors
to
> the max (999) and started the export.
> In my case I had 632 fewer records in my temp table after the export. I ra
n
> a NOT EXISTS against the tables and was able to find the 632 records w/ ba
d
> dates in my production table.
> If the number of records w/ bad dates is GT 999, you will have to do the
> export in bacthes to find all the bad recs.
> Just a thought!
> "Emma" wrote:
>|||Thanks. That worked.
"Alejandro Mesa" wrote:
> Emma,
> The convert function with style 101 is supposed to be used when converting
> from datetime to char or varchar. Can you execute:
> select case when isdate(CreationDate) = 0 then null else convert(datetime,
> CreationDate)
> from Generation
>
> AMB
> "Emma" wrote:
>