Question

I need to get a SQL query to output the date from a datetime field in the format Mmm dd yyyy hh:mm AM/PM. The best aproach I’ve been able to come up with so far is:

SELECT Left(
           Convert(
               nvarchar(30),
               SWITCHOFFSET(
                   CAST(datetime1 as datetimeoffset),
                   '-05:00'
               ),
               0
           ),
           LEN(
               Convert(
                   nvarchar(30),
                   SWITCHOFFSET(
                       CAST(datetime1 as datetimeoffset),
                       '-05:00'
                   )
               )
           )-11
       )

However, a) it’s ugly! I feel like this should be simpler than that; and b) I think going to have to change my query when Daylight savings time comes back.

The source data is a sharepoint calendar, so I can’t simply change the datatype to datetimeoffset.

Any ideas?

Thanks,
Steve

Answer 1

Am I missing something, or is it simply:

Convert(nvarchar(30), DATEADD(Hour, -5, datetime1), 100)

That should add -5 hours to datetime1, then convert it into the format you were specifying.

I do agree that you should try to deal with timezones instead of offsets whenever possible.