Adding a date of birth into table

Question

How can I add a date of birth into a table? I'm not sure how to properly format using the TO_CHAR function. Currently have

INSERT INTO Participant (PartDOB,)
VALUES (TO_CHAR(sysdate, 'DD-MM-YYYY')'18-09-1964')

But it just returns with "missing comma". What's the correct way to format it?

As Gordon showed in his answer, the best way is not to format at all! If you want to add a date, use a date datatype, it's what it's there for! — HoneyBadger, Apr 13 '16 at 12:36
Maybe this can help you http://stackoverflow.com/questions/12957635/sql-query-to-insert-datetime-in-sql-server — Mattekr, Apr 13 '16 at 12:37

score 1 · Accepted Answer · answered Apr 13 '16 at 12:32

1

In most databases, just use ISO standard date formats:

INSERT INTO Participant (PartDOB, . . .)
    VALUES ('1964-09-18', . . .)

In Oracle (suggested by TO_CHAR() and sysdate), you need to precede this with DATE to indicate a date constant:

INSERT INTO Participant (PartDOB, . . .)
    VALUES (DATE '1964-09-18', . . .)

You would use sysdate just to get the current date/time.

answered Apr 13 '16 at 12:32

Gordon Linoff

And also ANSI SQL requires the `DATE` keyword, just like Oracle. – jarlh Apr 13 '16 at 12:34

1 Answers1