Question

I am having issues converting a string in dd/mm/yy hh:mi:ss format to yyyy-mm-dd hh:mi:ss format.

I have tried using CONVERT() as follows:

select CONVERT(VARCHAR, '11/10/11 10:56:58', 120)

But that returns no change:

11/10/11 10:56:58

Answer 1

You need to convert to datetime first to change a string to reflect a certain regional format. Be sure you are interpreting the datetime value correctly, too; on some systems, that will be October 11th, on others it will be November 10th.

SELECT CONVERT(CHAR(19), CONVERT(DATETIME, '11/10/11 10:56:58', 3), 120);

Finally, use the correct number of characters in your char or varchar declarations. Not specifying a length is lazy and can lead to problems. See:

• Bad habits to kick : declaring VARCHAR without (length)