Question

DateAdd logic in SQL

Asked by: BobRosas

I'm using Business Intelligence Development Studio in Visual Studio 2005 environment.
When I preview a report with the parameter dates of 7/3/08 to 7/3/08 I get no results.
When I use dates of 7/3/08 to 7/4/08 I get 5 records dated 7/3/08. Because of help from EE I understand why it's happening but need help with the code. I've attached what it should be logically but I get the error...
Cannot compare data of types System.DateTime and System.String

Date-Parameter4.JPG
- 17 KB
DateTime Filter

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Asked On: 2008-09-17 at 09:44:49ID23739376
Tags: SQL
,; Microsoft Visual Studio 2005
Topics: SQL Server 2005
,; Visual Studio
Participating Experts: 2
Points: 125
Comments: 18

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Answers

by: simonetPosted on 2008-09-17 at 09:51:48ID: 22500873

That's because the Datetime fields contains a decimal part that holds the hour/minute/second part of the date.

When comparing dates, if you're interested only in the date part (regardless of the time part), you can have a where clause like this:

WHERE (cast(cast(SomeDateField as int) as datetime) = '3 JUL 2008')

if you want to compare intervals of time:

WHERE (cast(cast(SomeDateField as int) as datetime) between '3 JUL 2008' and '07 JUL 2008')

This will yield correct results.

In short, what you need to do when comparing dates, is force SQL Server to ignore the time component of the datetime field, so that the comparisions are accurate.

Alex

by: BrandonGalderisiPosted on 2008-09-17 at 09:58:49ID: 22500966

Your field that you are comparing it to needs to have the time portion stripped out. To strip out the time portion and allow for date only comparison....

where convert(datetime,convert(char(8),YourDateField,112),112) = @YourDateParameter

by: BobRosasPosted on 2008-09-17 at 10:18:46ID: 22501196

Thank you both for your quick responses. I tried making changes to my code using Brandon's suggestion because it made more sense with my existing code. But I admit I'm new to SQL and I've gotten EE help on the code I have so far so I'm unsure of my changes. It complies and runs in data view but when I try to preview the report I get the same error. Is what I'm trying to do not possible with a filter? Do I have to use a parameter?
Thanks again!

WITH original_data AS (
SELECT g.Timetag
     , u.Name UName
     , g.AName
FROM  dbo.Users u
INNER JOIN dbo.GPSData g
  ON u.UserID = g.UserID
WHERE u.Name = @Name
  and g.Timetag BETWEEN DATEADD(m, - 3, CONVERT(DATETIME, CONVERT(VARCHAR(8), GETDATE(), 112), 112)) 
  AND CONVERT(DATETIME, CONVERT(VARCHAR(8), GETDATE(), 112), 112) 
  AND g.Timetag BETWEEN DATEADD(m, - 3, GETDATE()) AND 
CONVERT(DATETIME, CONVERT(VARCHAR(8), 
CONVERT(DATETIME, CONVERT(VARCHAR(8), GETDATE(), 112), 112), 112), 112) 
AND g.AName IS NOT NULL 
GROUP BY u.Name, g.AName, g.Timetag
) -- with original_data 
, row_numbered_data as ( 
  SELECT Timetag  
       , uName
       , AName
       , ROW_NUMBER() OVER (PARTITION BY uName ORDER BY TimeTag) r 
  FROM original_data 
) -- with row_numbered_data
SELECT c.TimeTag, c.uName, c.AName
  FROM row_numbered_data c
  LEFT JOIN row_numbered_data p
    ON c.uName = p.uName
   AND c.r = p.r + 1
  WHERE p.AName is null 
     OR p.AName <> c.AName

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by: BrandonGalderisiPosted on 2008-09-17 at 10:20:52ID: 22501216

How about your post code before you made these changes, and we can help plug them in. I see what appears to be some extra converts and I want to make sure it's right before this change

by: BobRosasPosted on 2008-09-17 at 11:08:13ID: 22501774

Gladly.
I actually gave you 2 snippets. One is because I was using GetDate and EE advised me that GetDate uses time, so change to convert.
The 2nd snippet includes convert changes I added which may explain why it doesn't look quite right. Since it gave the same final result I thought it was working but I admit it's hard to read.
Your help is greatly appreciated.

THIS IS BEFORE CONVERT 
WITH original_data AS (
SELECT g.Timetag
     , u.Name UName
     , g.AName
FROM  dbo.Users u
INNER JOIN dbo.GPSData g
  ON u.UserID = g.UserID
WHERE u.Name = @Name
  and g.Timetag BETWEEN DATEADD(m, - 3, GETDATE()) AND GETDATE() 
  AND g.Timetag BETWEEN DATEADD(m, - 3, GETDATE()) AND GETDATE() 
  AND g.AName IS NOT NULL 
GROUP BY u.Name, g.AName, g.Timetag
) -- with original_data 
, row_numbered_data as ( 
  SELECT Timetag  
       , uName
       , AName
       , ROW_NUMBER() OVER (PARTITION BY uName ORDER BY TimeTag) r 
  FROM original_data 
) -- with row_numbered_data
SELECT c.TimeTag, c.uName, c.AName
  FROM row_numbered_data c
  LEFT JOIN row_numbered_data p
    ON c.uName = p.uName
   AND c.r = p.r + 1
  WHERE p.AName is null 
     OR p.AName <> c.AName
 
 
THIS IS AFTER CONVERT
WITH original_data AS (
SELECT g.Timetag
     , u.Name UName
     , g.AName
FROM  dbo.Users u
INNER JOIN dbo.GPSData g
  ON u.UserID = g.UserID
WHERE u.Name = @Name
  and g.Timetag BETWEEN DATEADD(m, - 3, CONVERT(DATETIME, CONVERT(VARCHAR(10), GETDATE(), 120), 120)) 
  AND CONVERT(DATETIME, CONVERT(VARCHAR(10), GETDATE(), 120), 120) 
  AND g.Timetag BETWEEN DATEADD(m, - 3, GETDATE()) AND 
CONVERT(DATETIME, CONVERT(VARCHAR(10), 
CONVERT(DATETIME, CONVERT(VARCHAR(10), GETDATE(), 120), 120), 120), 120) 
  AND g.AName IS NOT NULL 
GROUP BY u.Name, g.AName, g.Timetag
) -- with original_data 
, row_numbered_data as ( 
  SELECT Timetag  
       , uName
       , AName
       , ROW_NUMBER() OVER (PARTITION BY uName ORDER BY TimeTag) r 
  FROM original_data 
) -- with row_numbered_data
SELECT c.TimeTag, c.uName, c.AName
  FROM row_numbered_data c
  LEFT JOIN row_numbered_data p
    ON c.uName = p.uName
   AND c.r = p.r + 1
  WHERE p.AName is null 
     OR p.AName <> c.AName

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by: BobRosasPosted on 2008-09-18 at 13:29:05ID: 22515073

I didn't mean to scare you away. I thought your code was helpful. I took out the GETDATE in my code and added your code and I get the results I want...Thanks! It made sense that insteasd of getting the last 3 months and the narrowing it down from there that I should just get exactly what I need. That way it's faster...well so I thought. With the GETDATE it takes about 30 seconds to run which I thought was kind of long. Without that it takes almost 3 minutes. Shouldn't it take less time? Can you take another look at my newly posted code. I'd really appreciate it.
Thanks!

WITH original_data AS (
SELECT g.Timetag
     , u.Name UName
     , g.AName
FROM  dbo.Users u
INNER JOIN dbo.GPSData g
  ON u.UserID = g.UserID
WHERE u.Name = @Name
  and convert(datetime,convert(char(8), g.Timetag,112),112)= @FromDate
  and convert(datetime,convert(char(8), g.Timetag,112),112)= @ToDate
  AND g.AName IS NOT NULL 
GROUP BY u.Name, g.AName, g.Timetag
) -- with original_data 
, row_numbered_data as ( 
  SELECT Timetag  
       , uName
       , AName
       , ROW_NUMBER() OVER (PARTITION BY uName ORDER BY TimeTag) r 
  FROM original_data 
) -- with row_numbered_data
SELECT c.TimeTag, c.uName, c.AName
  FROM row_numbered_data c
  LEFT JOIN row_numbered_data p
    ON c.uName = p.uName
   AND c.r = p.r + 1
  WHERE p.AName is null 
     OR p.AName <> c.AName

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by: BrandonGalderisiPosted on 2008-09-18 at 13:57:11ID: 22515389

Don't worry, you didn't scare me away as much as this "comment added" email accidentally got deleted along with the hundreds of others I receive daily.

To clarify, it's working, but not fast enough?

by: BrandonGalderisiPosted on 2008-09-18 at 14:02:43ID: 22515449

To understand your query, because I think you are making it more complicated than necessary

So you are attempting to show the current and previous record, on a single line, from the GPSdata table, as it relates to a user, for a given time period?

<apology>run on sentence</apology>

by: BrandonGalderisiPosted on 2008-09-18 at 14:05:10ID: 22515479

Do you have an index on dbo.users.name?

by: BrandonGalderisiPosted on 2008-09-18 at 14:07:58ID: 22515512

Or are you trying to show all changes in location for a given user, since each timetag may be in the same location, you want to find what time the change in position occurred and list the timetag, the username and the aName?

by: BrandonGalderisiPosted on 2008-09-18 at 14:14:26ID: 22515563

"IF" I interpreted our query right and "IF" I understand your data model, this may work correctly, and better:

Try experimenting with y1.* and y2.* below.


with YourData as (select u.userid,g.TimeTag,u.[Name] UName,g.AName,row_number() over(partition by u.[Name] order by g.TimeTag) r
from dbo.users u
join dbo.gpsdata g
on u.userid = g.userid
where u.[name] = @name
  and convert(datetime,convert(char(8), g.Timetag,112),112) >= @FromDate
  and convert(datetime,convert(char(8), g.Timetag,112),112) <  @ToDate
  and g.AName is not null)
  
select y1.* from YourData y1
 left outer join YourData y2
   on y1.userid = y2.userid
   and y1.r = y2.r-1
where case when y1.aName = y2.aName then 0 else 1 end = 1

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by: BobRosasPosted on 2008-09-18 at 14:18:00ID: 22515593

I'm glad you are back. I'll try to answer all your questions.
Ques 1. You are correct. I think it should be faster but that is based on the fact that with GETDATE is 32 seconds and without is over 3 minutes. I thought my just picking specific data it should be faster. Therefore I figure it's something I did in my code.
2. It may be easier if I give you a link to my previously posted question.
http://www.experts-exchange.com/Microsoft/Development/MS-SQL-Server/SQL-Server-2005/Q_23735903.html
3. Yes there is an index on dbo.users.name
4. I think the link should clarify this as well.
5. I will try your posted code and let you know. Thank you so much

by: BobRosasPosted on 2008-09-18 at 14:44:18ID: 22515830

I tried the new code and it does compile and run but it does not return any results. If I try to run it in Preview I get the error...
'System out of memory error was thrown'

Was the link I gave you of any help? If not I'd be glad to try and explain it here. I just appreciate your help.
Thanks

by: BrandonGalderisiPosted on 2008-09-19 at 07:49:39ID: 22521701

Change the select portion of the query to this to test it.

You should get
record1 > record2
record2 > record3
record3 > record4

two records per line.

select top 100 y1.*,y2.* from YourData y1
 left outer join YourData y2
   on y1.userid = y2.userid
   and y1.r = y2.r-1

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by: BobRosasPosted on 2008-09-19 at 09:26:58ID: 22522892

Thank you so much for your continued help. I tried your suggestion but it still does not display any results.
However, the code I've attached is giving me the data I want and it's fast so I will use it. Even tho I don't know why I need the following portion of the code. It works without it but really really slow. It appears I'm grabbing 3 months of data and then selecting one date from that data. Shouldn't it be faster to just select the one date?
Oh well. Please advise if you know why but I will go ahead and award points since it works.
Thanks again.

and g.Timetag BETWEEN DATEADD(m, - 3, CONVERT(DATETIME, CONVERT(VARCHAR(10), GETDATE(), 120), 120))
AND CONVERT(DATETIME, CONVERT(VARCHAR(10), GETDATE(), 120), 120)
AND g.Timetag BETWEEN DATEADD(m, - 3, GETDATE()) AND
CONVERT(DATETIME, CONVERT(VARCHAR(10),
CONVERT(DATETIME, CONVERT(VARCHAR(10), GETDATE(), 120), 120), 120), 120)

WITH original_data AS (
SELECT g.Timetag
     , u.Name UName
     , g.AName
FROM  dbo.Users u
INNER JOIN dbo.GPSData g
  ON u.UserID = g.UserID
WHERE u.Name = @Name
  and g.Timetag BETWEEN DATEADD(m, - 3, CONVERT(DATETIME, CONVERT(VARCHAR(10), GETDATE(), 120), 120)) 
  AND CONVERT(DATETIME, CONVERT(VARCHAR(10), GETDATE(), 120), 120) 
  AND g.Timetag BETWEEN DATEADD(m, - 3, GETDATE()) AND 
CONVERT(DATETIME, CONVERT(VARCHAR(10), 
CONVERT(DATETIME, CONVERT(VARCHAR(10), GETDATE(), 120), 120), 120), 120) 
  and convert(datetime,convert(char(8), g.Timetag,112),112)>= @FromDate
  and convert(datetime,convert(char(8), g.Timetag,112),112)<= @ToDate
  AND g.AName IS NOT NULL 
GROUP BY u.Name, g.AName, g.Timetag
) -- with original_data 
, row_numbered_data as ( 
  SELECT Timetag  
       , uName
       , AName
       , ROW_NUMBER() OVER (PARTITION BY uName ORDER BY TimeTag) r 
  FROM original_data 
) -- with row_numbered_data
SELECT c.TimeTag, c.uName, c.AName
  FROM row_numbered_data c
  LEFT JOIN row_numbered_data p
    ON c.uName = p.uName
   AND c.r = p.r + 1
  WHERE p.AName is null 
     OR p.AName <> c.AName

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by: BobRosasPosted on 2008-09-19 at 09:28:32ID: 31497406

Adding this parameter and taking out the filters is what got me wher I need to be. Thanks

by: BrandonGalderisiPosted on 2008-09-19 at 09:36:07ID: 22522963

You are filtering by date in the very first section, which is limiting the amount of data returned and making it faster.

by: BobRosasPosted on 2008-09-19 at 10:13:22ID: 22523289

Makes sense.
Thanks again!

20120131-EE-VQP-002

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DateAdd logic in SQL

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