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 Changing Date column to different format

Author  Topic 

masterdineen
Aged Yak Warrior

550 Posts

Posted - 2013-01-17 : 08:31:22
Hello there

I have a datetime column that reads 1997-11-25 16:29:00.000

is there a way i can update the whole column to permanently read

eg todays date 17-01-2012 12:22:00.000


Regards


Rob

James K
Master Smack Fu Yak Hacker

3873 Posts

Posted - 2013-01-17 : 08:47:08
Assuming that data type of the column is DATETIME, DATETIME2 or one of the other datetime types, the data is stored in SQL Server without regard to the formatting. So what you are observing when you select is simply an artifact of the default format applied (which depends on your locale setting and language setting).

If you want to get the results in the format you have indicated (or any other format) you can format it approriately. So to get the format you specified, you would do this:
CONVERT(VARCHAR(32), YourDateColumn, 120)
120 is a format style. The format styles available are listed on this MSDN page http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms187928.aspx

Usually it is better to do this type of formatting at the point where the data is consumed - for example in a front-end application or in Reporting Services.
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