Question

I have created a simple form which users submit. Everything works great but I recently found that the

SELECT * FROM `Forms` WHERE `Date` BETWEEN '{$startDate}' AND '{$endDate}' 

The column Date is type TEXT. I needed it to be text cause I thought it would be easier to display everything in MM/DD/YY format. Now I dont want to risk changing the data type since the form is working fine.

Example of Date column

01-03-2013
01-04-2013
07-25-2012
08-01-2012
08-01-2012
08-01-2012
08-01-2012

Ex of working Query

SELECT * FROM `Forms` Where `Date` Between '01-08-2012' and '12-12-2012'

Ex of not working Query

SELECT * FROM `Forms` Where `Date` Between '01-08-2012' and '01-04-2013'

Any reason why it would break if the year changes? How can I get it to work even if the year changes.

Answer 1

you can do it like that

SELECT * FROM `Forms` 
WHERE str_to_date(`Date`, '%d-%m-%Y') BETWEEN '2012-01-30' AND '2013-09-29'

DEMO HERE

EDIT :

if you want fix your table here how you do

1. Add a new column of the appropriate DATE data type:

   ALTER TABLE `Forms` ADD `new_date` DATE AFTER `Date`;
   

2. Use MySQL’s STR_TO_DATE() function to populate that new column with the dates held in the old column:

   UPDATE `Forms` SET `new_date` = STR_TO_DATE(`Date`, '%d-%m-%Y');
   

3. Drop the old column (and, if so desired, rename the new one in its place):

   ALTER TABLE `Forms` DROP `Date`, CHANGE `new_date` `Date` DATE;
   

4. Change your application to use this new column.