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Try:<br />
<br />
Starting_Date = CAST(RIGHT(Course_Code,6) AS SMALLDATETIME)
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Try:

Starting_Date = CAST(RIGHT(Course_Code,6) AS SMALLDATETIME)

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The other thing that may be going on is if Course_Code does not have at leas 6 characters. You may want to check your string length before making the assignment.
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The other thing that may be going on is if Course_Code does not have at leas 6 characters. You may want to check your string length before making the assignment.

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when using the below query I get the error 'Arithmetic overflow error converting expression to data type smalldatetime.'<br />
<br />
UPDATE &nbsp; &nbsp;tblCourseHistory<br />
SET &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;Starting_Date = RIGHT(Course_Code, 6)<br />
WHERE &nbsp; &nbsp; (Starting_Date IS NULL)<br />
<br />
Starting_Date has a datatype of smalldatetime<br />
Course_Code has a dataype of nvarchar
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when using the below query I get the error 'Arithmetic overflow error converting expression to data type smalldatetime.'

UPDATE    tblCourseHistory
SET              Starting_Date = RIGHT(Course_Code, 6)
WHERE     (Starting_Date IS NULL)

Starting_Date has a datatype of smalldatetime
Course_Code has a dataype of nvarchar

need to convert string 030308 into smalldatetime

Microsoft SQL Server 2005 is a suite of relational database management system (RDBMS) products providing multi-user database access functionality.Component services include integration (SSIS), reporting (SSRS), analysis (SSAS), data quality, master data, T-SQL and performance tuning. It includes support for managing XML data and allows a database server to be exposed over web services using Tabular Data Stream (TDS) packets encapsulated within SOAP (protocol) requests.

Microsoft SQL Server 2005

Microsoft SQL Server is a suite of relational database management system (RDBMS) products providing multi-user database access functionality.SQL Server is available in multiple versions, typically identified by release year, and versions are subdivided into editions to distinguish between product functionality. Component services include integration (SSIS), reporting (SSRS), analysis (SSAS), data quality, master data, T-SQL and performance tuning.