SQL Server Datetime issues. American vs. British?

Question

On my test DB, the dates are displayed in a DD/MM/YYYY format. By displayed I mean when you right click, open table in Management Studio, the returned data are displayed in a DD/MM/YYYY format.

Funny thing is, when I write T-SQL to retrieve records, I have to input a MM/DD/YYYY format to get back the right data. Is there anyway I can align this to a DD/MM/YYYY format?

Solution 1

You can use SET LANGUAGE to choose the date format that SQL Server expects in queries (I think management studio uses client computer's regional settings for display purposes, not sure though). However, I suggest passing values using parameters instead of embedding them in query statement. You won't encounter any issues if you use parameters. Everything is taken care of.

set language us_english
declare @d datetime = '1929/12/18'

set language british
declare @d datetime = '1929/12/18' -- fails

To change the server default language:

declare @langid int = (select langid from syslanguages where name = 'british')
exec sp_configure 'default language', @langid
reconfigure with override

Solution 2

Personally, I always use YYYY-MM-DD format (or YYYYMMDD) since it's not culture-specific, and, well, I guess it appeals to me because it's "logical" (especially when followed by a time).

[Edit: I'm just talking about what I put in my SQL scripts to ensure compatibility regardless of the server settings, not what SQL Server "displays"]

Solution 3

You can set the default language for each indvidual SQL Server login. Can't quite remember, but something like this:

sp_defaultlanguage @loginame = 'LoginName', @language = 'Language'

Solution 4

If you pass in DATETIME in the format

dd MMM yyyy

for example

"11 JUL 2009"

there is never any ambiguity around month and date and therefore you should never have a problem

Solution 5

I try to use the ODBC canonical form of a date wherever possible {d 'yyyy-mm-dd'} This way I know how sql server will interpret it. It works in TSQL just fine.

View more solutions

Comments

[super9]

How does one go about changing the T-SQL Datime query defaults to this?

[super9]

This is a great but I am looking for a permanent solution rather than a session solution.

[super9]

The dates are acutally stored as DATETIME formats. Sorry if I wasn't clear.

[mmx]

Nai: syslanguages alone will work if you are in master database. Adding sys. to that line made the scrollbars appear so I shortened it ;)

[Marc Gravell]

I assumed that; my point is that it shouldn't matter how the server wants to handle them as text if you simply never (in your system) treat them as text.

[super9]

Oh right I get what you mean. I normally pass them in as variables but good advice nonetheless. Thanks for that!