Question

I’m try to order some data in a database which in it’s current format is set as dd/mm/yyyy. Is there a way I can replace the ‘/’s when selecting the results in the query?

i.e. in php i could use str_replace() and do it that way. I dont want to change the data in the table as it is used elsewhere within the site.

Answer 1

Is there a way I can replace the ‘/’s when selecting the results in
the query?

Yes, there is. MySQL offers plenty of string functions. Here’s a simple example of how it works:

SELECT REPLACE(dateField1,'/','')
FROM myTable;

You also should be able to alter the data type using CAST to a SIGNED or UNSIGNED integer.

CAST(REPLACE(dateField1,'/','') as SIGNED)