CODEWITHSUNDEEP
sql-serversql-server-2005datetimedate-formatting
super9
super9

Reputation: 30111

SQL Server Datetime issues. American vs. British?

On my test DB, the dates are displayed in a DD/MM/YYYY format. By displayed I mean when you right click, open table in Management Studio, the returned data are displayed in a DD/MM/YYYY format.

Funny thing is, when I write T-SQL to retrieve records, I have to input a MM/DD/YYYY format to get back the right data. Is there anyway I can align this to a DD/MM/YYYY format?

Upvotes: 12

Views: 23481

Answers (7)

Safran Ali
Safran Ali

Reputation: 4497

Either add this to your web.config file:

</system.web>
    <globalization culture="en-US" uiCulture="en-US" />
</system.web>

or you can add this statement on the page: 

<%@ Page uiCulture="en-US" culture="en-US" %>

Hope this help.

Upvotes: 2

Dan Diplo
Dan Diplo

Reputation: 25339

You can set the default language for each indvidual SQL Server login. Can't quite remember, but something like this:

sp_defaultlanguage @loginame = 'LoginName', @language = 'Language'

Upvotes: 3

Will Rickards
Will Rickards

Reputation: 2786

I try to use the ODBC canonical form of a date wherever possible {d 'yyyy-mm-dd'} This way I know how sql server will interpret it. It works in TSQL just fine.

Upvotes: 1

Russ Cam
Russ Cam

Reputation: 125488

If you pass in DATETIME in the format

dd MMM yyyy

for example

"11 JUL 2009"

there is never any ambiguity around month and date and therefore you should never have a problem

Upvotes: 2

Marc Gravell
Marc Gravell

Reputation: 1062640

In almost all cases, the correct way to solve this is simply to never treat the date as a string. If you pass in a parameter, or use the (typed) column value, then the server's text conversion simply isn't a factor. In addition to avoiding the i18n issue, this also reduces your injection attack surface. And it saves a few CPU cycles, too ;-p

If you are using EXEC for dynamic SQL, then this should likewise be parameterised via sp_ExecuteSQL.

Upvotes: 1

Mehrdad Afshari
Mehrdad Afshari

Reputation: 421978

You can use SET LANGUAGE to choose the date format that SQL Server expects in queries (I think management studio uses client computer's regional settings for display purposes, not sure though). However, I suggest passing values using parameters instead of embedding them in query statement. You won't encounter any issues if you use parameters. Everything is taken care of.

set language us_english
declare @d datetime = '1929/12/18'

set language british
declare @d datetime = '1929/12/18' -- fails

To change the server default language:

declare @langid int = (select langid from syslanguages where name = 'british')
exec sp_configure 'default language', @langid
reconfigure with override

Upvotes: 13

Gary McGill
Gary McGill

Reputation: 27516

Personally, I always use YYYY-MM-DD format (or YYYYMMDD) since it's not culture-specific, and, well, I guess it appeals to me because it's "logical" (especially when followed by a time).

[Edit: I'm just talking about what I put in my SQL scripts to ensure compatibility regardless of the server settings, not what SQL Server "displays"]

Upvotes: 5

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