Question

SQL Server 2005 Query with convert string to date and test for whether it's between two dates.

Asked by: jonnietexas

I have a column (notes) that is a string.  This field is periodically updated and more information is appended to it. (Not my design).  What I need to do is be able to look for the last date that is put into the string and then compare that date to see if it is between two other dates.

For the purposes of this question we can assume 1 table - table1 with 1 column - Notes.

A sample piece of data for the notes column would be...

blurb on 03/23/2004 by Someone blurb on 03/23/2004 by Someone blurb on 09/27/2004 by Someone Blurb on 09/27/2004 by Someone

Of course, I took the actual data out and replaced it with blurb to protect the innocent.

Here's the query...

DECLARE @StartDate            datetime
DECLARE @EndDate                  datetime

SET @StartDate = convert(datetime, '10/01/2006',101)
SET @EndDate = convert(datetime, '06/30/2007',101)


select convert(datetime,substring(notes, CHARINDEX (' on', notes, len(notes)-25)+4, 10),101)
from table1
where notes <> ''
and substring(notes, CHARINDEX (' on', notes, len(notes)-25)+4, 1) in ('0','1')
and convert(datetime,substring(notes, CHARINDEX (' on', notes, len(notes)-25)+4, 10),101)
BETWEEN @StartDate AND @EndDate

I get...

Msg 241, Level 16, State 1, Line 8
Conversion failed when converting datetime from character string.

If I remove the between line...

DECLARE @StartDate            datetime
DECLARE @EndDate                  datetime

SET @StartDate = convert(datetime, '10/01/2006',101)
SET @EndDate = convert(datetime, '06/30/2007',101)


select convert(datetime,substring(notes, CHARINDEX (' on', notes, len(notes)-25)+4, 10),101)
from table1
where notes <> ''
and substring(notes, CHARINDEX (' on', notes, len(notes)-25)+4, 1) in ('0','1')

I get...

2004-09-27 00:00:00.000


For the one row example I gave above...

So, why can't I do that "between" statement?  Also, the formatting doesn't work on the convert but I don't really care. (unless that's the problem)

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Asked On
2007-08-24 at 14:23:33ID22786066
Tags

sql

,

convert

,

server

,

date

,

string

Topics

SQL Server 2005

,

Databases Miscellaneous

,

MS SQL Server

Participating Experts
2
Points
500
Comments
4

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Answers

 

by: ScottPletcherPosted on 2007-08-24 at 14:48:32ID: 19765724

Hmm, I think that is the first date not the last (?).  Please try this:

SELECT ...
WHERE patindex('%[01][0-9]/[0123][0-9]/2[012][0-9][0-9]%', notes) > 0  --verify that a date pattern is present
/*  not sure what this does, it may still be needed
and substring(notes, CHARINDEX (' on', notes, len(notes)-25)+4, 1) in ('0','1')
*/
-- find the *last* date pattern, convert it to a date, ...
AND convert(datetime, substring(notes, len(notes) - (patindex('%[0-9][0-9][012]2/[0-9][0123]/[0-9][01]%', reverse(notes)) + 8), 10), 101)
-- ... and compare it to the requested start and end dates
BETWEEN @StartDate AND @EndDate


A stand-alone example:

DECLARE @StartDate            datetime
DECLARE @EndDate                  datetime
DECLARE @notes varchar(200)

SET @StartDate = convert(datetime, '10/01/2006',101)
SET @EndDate = convert(datetime, '06/30/2007',101)

set @notes = 'blurb on 03/23/2004 by Someone blurb on 03/23/2004 by Someone blurb on 09/27/2004 by Someone Blurb on 09/27/2004 by Someone'
select convert(datetime, substring(@notes, len(@notes) - (patindex('%[0-9][0-9][012]2/[0-9][0123]/[0-9][01]%', reverse(@notes)) + 8), 10), 101)
where patindex('%[01][0-9]/[0123][0-9]/2[012][0-9][0-9]%', @notes) > 0
--and convert(datetime, substring(@notes, len(@notes) - (patindex('%[0-9][0-9][012]2/[0-9][0123]/[0-9][01]%', reverse(@notes)) + 8), 10), 101) between @startdate and @enddate

 

by: tedbillyPosted on 2007-08-25 at 11:41:02ID: 19768667

T-SQL is notoriously slow for these types of operations.  Why don't you write .NET CLR user defined function to parse the string?  

 

by: jonnietexasPosted on 2007-08-27 at 09:56:02ID: 19776692

scott, let me try it and I'll get back with you.

ted, I'm a dba\network admin so my plate is kind of full.  I'm plodding through a programming manual now but not enough time for this.  My DB is relatively small so it returns pretty quick right now.

also, the and substring(notes, CHARINDEX (' on', notes, len(notes)-25)+4, 1) in ('0','1')
was just a way to get rid of nulls and results with character since this the date is always the only number in the field and begins with 0 or 1.  Not eloquent but it works.
Thanks!
I'll let you know how it goes..

 

by: jonnietexasPosted on 2007-08-27 at 10:09:59ID: 19776802

Scott, I really like your way of doing this with the patindex.  Even more than that... I like that it works.  

You da man!

20120131-EE-VQP-002

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