SQL Server Date Formats

Count String Occurrence Function

In SQL Server, and I believe as well as in other databases, there's no built-in function that will return the number of words a given string contains.  Assuming that the space character separates each word, counting the number of words in a string can be performed using the following query on the given definition of a Health Insurance: DECLARE @String VARCHAR(4000) SET @String = 'Health Insurance is an insurance against expenses incurred through illness of the insured.' SELECT LEN(@String) - LEN(REPLACE(@String, ' ', '')) + 1

This query will return a value of 13, which is the number of words in the given string.  But if the words are separate by not just a single space character but by multiple spaces, then this will return an incorrect result as can be seen from the following:

DECLARE @String VARCHAR(4000)
SET @String = 'Health   Insurance'

SELECT LEN(@String) - LEN(REPLACE(@String, ' ', '')) + 1

There are three spaces between the words "Health" and "Insurance" and the value returned by the query is 4 instead of just 2.  The reason why it returns a value of 4 is because the query simply counts the number of spaces in the string and adds 1 to it.  So since there are 3 spaces between the words, the result becomes 4.

SQL Server Date Formats

One of the most frequently asked questions in SQL Server forums is how to format a datetime value or column into a specific date format.  Here's a summary of the different date formats that come standard in SQL Server as part of the CONVERT function.  Following the standard date formats are some extended date formats that are often asked by SQL Server developers.

It is worth to note that the output of these date formats are of VARCHAR data types already and not of DATETIME data type.  With this in mind, any date comparisons performed after the datetime value has been formatted are using the VARCHAR value of the date and time and not its original DATETIME value.

SQL Server Date Formats One of the most frequently asked questions in SQL Server forums is how to format a datetime value or column into a specific date format.  Here's a summary of the different date formats that come standard in SQL Server as part of the CONVERT function.  Following the standard date formats are some extended date formats that are often asked by SQL Server developers. It is worth to note that the output of these date formats are of VARCHAR data types already and not of DATETIME data type.  With this in mind, any date comparisons performed after the datetime value has been formatted are using the VARCHAR value of the date and time and not its original DATETIME value. Standard Date Formats Date Format Standard SQL Statement Sample Output Mon DD YYYY 1 HH:MIAM (or PM) Default SELECT CONVERT(VARCHAR(20), GETDATE(), 100) Jan 1 2005 1:29PM 1 MM/DD/YY USA SELECT CONVERT(VARCHAR(8), GETDATE(), 1) AS [MM/DD/YY] 11/23/98 MM/DD/YYYY USA SELECT CONVERT(VARCHAR(10), GETDATE(), 101) AS [MM/DD/YYYY] 11/23/1998 YY.MM.DD ANSI SELECT CONVERT(VARCHAR(8), GETDATE(), 2) AS [YY.MM.DD] 72.01.01 YYYY.MM.DD ANSI SELECT CONVERT(VARCHAR(10), GETDATE(), 102) AS [YYYY.MM.DD] 1972.01.01 DD/MM/YY British/French SELECT CONVERT(VARCHAR(8), GETDATE(), 3) AS [DD/MM/YY] 19/02/72 DD/MM/YYYY British/French SELECT CONVERT(VARCHAR(10), GETDATE(), 103) AS [DD/MM/YYYY] 19/02/1972 DD.MM.YY German SELECT CONVERT(VARCHAR(8), GETDATE(), 4) AS [DD.MM.YY] 25.12.05 DD.MM.YYYY German SELECT CONVERT(VARCHAR(10), GETDATE(), 104) AS [DD.MM.YYYY] 25.12.2005 DD-MM-YY Italian SELECT CONVERT(VARCHAR(8), GETDATE(), 5) AS [DD-MM-YY] 24-01-98 DD-MM-YYYY Italian SELECT CONVERT(VARCHAR(10), GETDATE(), 105) AS [DD-MM-YYYY] 24-01-1998 DD Mon YY 1 - SELECT CONVERT(VARCHAR(9), GETDATE(), 6) AS [DD MON YY] 04 Jul 06 1 DD Mon YYYY 1 - SELECT CONVERT(VARCHAR(11), GETDATE(), 106) AS [DD MON YYYY] 04 Jul 2006 1 Mon DD, YY 1 - SELECT CONVERT(VARCHAR(10), GETDATE(), 7) AS [Mon DD, YY] Jan 24, 98 1 Mon DD, YYYY 1 - SELECT CONVERT(VARCHAR(12), GETDATE(), 107) AS [Mon DD, YYYY] Jan 24, 1998 1 HH:MM:SS - SELECT CONVERT(VARCHAR(8), GETDATE(), 108) 03:24:53 Mon DD YYYY HH:MI:SS:MMMAM (or PM) 1 Default + milliseconds SELECT CONVERT(VARCHAR(26), GETDATE(), 109) Apr 28 2006 12:32:29:253PM 1 MM-DD-YY USA SELECT CONVERT(VARCHAR(8), GETDATE(), 10) AS [MM-DD-YY] 01-01-06 MM-DD-YYYY USA SELECT CONVERT(VARCHAR(10), GETDATE(), 110) AS [MM-DD-YYYY] 01-01-2006 YY/MM/DD - SELECT CONVERT(VARCHAR(8), GETDATE(), 11) AS [YY/MM/DD] 98/11/23 YYYY/MM/DD - SELECT CONVERT(VARCHAR(10), GETDATE(), 111) AS [YYYY/MM/DD] 1998/11/23 YYMMDD ISO SELECT CONVERT(VARCHAR(6), GETDATE(), 12) AS [YYMMDD] 980124 YYYYMMDD ISO SELECT CONVERT(VARCHAR(8), GETDATE(), 112) AS [YYYYMMDD] 19980124 DD Mon YYYY HH:MM:SS:MMM(24h) 1 Europe default + milliseconds SELECT CONVERT(VARCHAR(24), GETDATE(), 113) 28 Apr 2006 00:34:55:190 1 HH:MI:SS:MMM(24H) - SELECT CONVERT(VARCHAR(12), GETDATE(), 114) AS [HH:MI:SS:MMM(24H)] 11:34:23:013 YYYY-MM-DD HH:MI:SS(24h) ODBC Canonical SELECT CONVERT(VARCHAR(19), GETDATE(), 120) 1972-01-01 13:42:24 YYYY-MM-DD HH:MI:SS.MMM(24h) ODBC Canonical (with milliseconds) SELECT CONVERT(VARCHAR(23), GETDATE(), 121) 1972-02-19 06:35:24.489 YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS:MMM ISO8601 SELECT CONVERT(VARCHAR(23), GETDATE(), 126) 1998-11-23T11:25:43:250 DD Mon YYYY HH:MI:SS:MMMAM 1 Kuwaiti SELECT CONVERT(VARCHAR(26), GETDATE(), 130) 28 Apr 2006 12:39:32:429AM 1 DD/MM/YYYY HH:MI:SS:MMMAM Kuwaiti SELECT CONVERT(VARCHAR(25), GETDATE(), 131) 28/04/2006 12:39:32:429AM

Here are some more date formats that does not come standard in SQL Server as part of the CONVERT function. Extended Date Formats Date Format SQL Statement Sample Output YY-MM-DD SELECT SUBSTRING(CONVERT(VARCHAR(10), GETDATE(), 120), 3, 8) AS [YY-MM-DD] SELECT REPLACE(CONVERT(VARCHAR(8), GETDATE(), 11), '/', '-') AS [YY-MM-DD] 99-01-24 YYYY-MM-DD SELECT CONVERT(VARCHAR(10), GETDATE(), 120) AS [YYYY-MM-DD] SELECT REPLACE(CONVERT(VARCHAR(10), GETDATE(), 111), '/', '-') AS [YYYY-MM-DD] 1999-01-24 MM/YY SELECT RIGHT(CONVERT(VARCHAR(8), GETDATE(), 3), 5) AS [MM/YY] SELECT SUBSTRING(CONVERT(VARCHAR(8), GETDATE(), 3), 4, 5) AS [MM/YY] 08/99 MM/YYYY SELECT RIGHT(CONVERT(VARCHAR(10), GETDATE(), 103), 7) AS [MM/YYYY] 12/2005 YY/MM SELECT CONVERT(VARCHAR(5), GETDATE(), 11) AS [YY/MM] 99/08 YYYY/MM SELECT CONVERT(VARCHAR(7), GETDATE(), 111) AS [YYYY/MM] 2005/12 Month DD, YYYY 1 SELECT DATENAME(MM, GETDATE()) + RIGHT(CONVERT(VARCHAR(12), GETDATE(), 107), 9) AS [Month DD, YYYY] July 04, 20061 Mon YYYY1 SELECT SUBSTRING(CONVERT(VARCHAR(11), GETDATE(), 113), 4, 8) AS [Mon YYYY] Apr 2006 1 Month YYYY 1 SELECT DATENAME(MM, GETDATE()) + ' ' + CAST(YEAR(GETDATE()) AS VARCHAR(4)) AS [Month YYYY] February 2006 1 DD Month1 SELECT CAST(DAY(GETDATE()) AS VARCHAR(2)) + ' ' + DATENAME(MM, GETDATE()) AS [DD Month] 11 September 1 Month DD1 SELECT DATENAME(MM, GETDATE()) + ' ' + CAST(DAY(GETDATE()) AS VARCHAR(2)) AS [Month DD] September 11 1 DD Month YY 1 SELECT CAST(DAY(GETDATE()) AS VARCHAR(2)) + ' ' + DATENAME(MM, GETDATE()) + ' ' + RIGHT(CAST(YEAR(GETDATE()) AS VARCHAR(4)), 2) AS [DD Month YY] 19 February 72 1 DD Month YYYY 1 SELECT CAST(DAY(GETDATE()) AS VARCHAR(2)) + ' ' + DATENAME(MM, GETDATE()) + ' ' + CAST(YEAR(GETDATE()) AS VARCHAR(4)) AS [DD Month YYYY] 11 September 2002 1 MM-YY SELECT RIGHT(CONVERT(VARCHAR(8), GETDATE(), 5), 5) AS [MM-YY] SELECT SUBSTRING(CONVERT(VARCHAR(8), GETDATE(), 5), 4, 5) AS [MM-YY] 12/92 MM-YYYY SELECT RIGHT(CONVERT(VARCHAR(10), GETDATE(), 105), 7) AS [MM-YYYY] 05-2006 YY-MM SELECT RIGHT(CONVERT(VARCHAR(7), GETDATE(), 120), 5) AS [YY-MM] SELECT SUBSTRING(CONVERT(VARCHAR(10), GETDATE(), 120), 3, 5) AS [YY-MM] 92/12 YYYY-MM SELECT CONVERT(VARCHAR(7), GETDATE(), 120) AS [YYYY-MM] 2006-05 MMDDYY SELECT REPLACE(CONVERT(VARCHAR(10), GETDATE(), 1), '/', '') AS [MMDDYY] 122506 MMDDYYYY SELECT REPLACE(CONVERT(VARCHAR(10), GETDATE(), 101), '/', '') AS [MMDDYYYY] 12252006 DDMMYY SELECT REPLACE(CONVERT(VARCHAR(10), GETDATE(), 3), '/', '') AS [DDMMYY] 240702 DDMMYYYY SELECT REPLACE(CONVERT(VARCHAR(10), GETDATE(), 103), '/', '') AS [DDMMYYYY] 24072002 Mon-YY 1 SELECT REPLACE(RIGHT(CONVERT(VARCHAR(9), GETDATE(), 6), 6), ' ', '-') AS [Mon-YY] Sep-02 1 Mon-YYYY1 SELECT REPLACE(RIGHT(CONVERT(VARCHAR(11), GETDATE(), 106), 8), ' ', '-') AS [Mon-YYYY] Sep-2002 1 DD-Mon-YY 1 SELECT REPLACE(CONVERT(VARCHAR(9), GETDATE(), 6), ' ', '-') AS [DD-Mon-YY] 25-Dec-05 1 DD-Mon-YYYY 1 SELECT REPLACE(CONVERT(VARCHAR(11), GETDATE(), 106), ' ', '-') AS [DD-Mon-YYYY] 25-Dec-20051 1 To make the month name in upper case, simply use the UPPER string function.

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