How to convert custom string to Date in SQL Server

Question

How to convert yyyyMMddhh (2017092018) string to Date in SQL Server 2012?

Is it possible to do without using T-SQL to put the sentence into the INSERT clause?

INSERT INTO [dbo].[Table](SomeColumn) 
VALUES (CONVERT(DATETIME, '2017092018', 'yyyyMMddhh'));

Is it possible to do without using T-SQL to put the sentence into the INSERT clause? - I'm not sure what you're asking here... — Siyual
– Siyual, Commented Sep 20, 2017 at 14:17
Create a function in sql with string parameter and return Date. You can also make your function running with different custom date formats. — OnurBulbul
– OnurBulbul, Commented Sep 20, 2017 at 14:18
Is the string always in that exact format? Always the same number of characters? — Siyual
– Siyual, Commented Sep 20, 2017 at 14:18
Another question after your edit... you specifically say DATE twice in your question, but your example says DATETIME. What are you looking for? — Siyual
– Siyual, Commented Sep 20, 2017 at 14:20
Possible duplicate of Conversion failed when converting date and/or time from character string while inserting datetime — Tab Alleman
– Tab Alleman, Commented Sep 20, 2017 at 14:21

John Cappelletti · Accepted Answer · 2017-09-20 14:23:10Z

7

Example

Declare @S varchar(50)='2017092018'

Select convert(datetime,left(@S,8)) + convert(datetime,right(@S,2)+':00')

Returns

2017-09-20 18:00:00.000

If 2012+, I would suggest try_convert() just in case you have some unexpected values.

answered Sep 20, 2017 at 14:23

John Cappelletti

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5 Comments

Sean Lange Over a year ago

+1 from me. I didn't want to post a contradictory answer but I came up with a different approach. dateadd(hour, convert(int, right(@s, 2)), left(@s, 8))

John Cappelletti Over a year ago

@SeanLange Post it! That is the beauty of SO... Options

Evgeny Bychkov Over a year ago

Thanks, but as I expected there is no conversion string to Date by mask =(

sjd Over a year ago

Old post, but still cant resist to wonder , whey sqlserver doesn't support using a standard syntax ,using format string like cast('1-1-2021', 'd-m-yyyy'). Or is it there?

John Cappelletti Over a year ago

@sjd Seems like a missed opportunity.

Tanner · Accepted Answer · 2017-09-20 14:34:56Z

2

Alternate approach using STUFF:

DECLARE @val VARCHAR(25) = '2017092018';

SELECT CONVERT(DATETIME,STUFF(@val, 9, 0, ' ') + ':00')

This adds a space before the hour, then adds :00 for the minute value.

answered Sep 20, 2017 at 14:34

Tanner

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1 Comment

John Cappelletti Over a year ago

Already +1 ... Should be the accepted answer Got stuck on my initial thought.

Sean Lange · Accepted Answer · 2017-09-20 14:30:07Z

1

Here is yet another approach to this. It is similar to what John Cappelletti posted.

Declare @S varchar(50)='2017092018'

Select dateadd(hour, convert(int, right(@s, 2)), left(@s, 8))

answered Sep 20, 2017 at 14:30

Sean Lange

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1 Comment

Lukasz Szozda Over a year ago

Select CAST(left(@s, 8) AS DATETIME) + RIGHT(@s,2)/24.0;

Lukasz Szozda · Accepted Answer · 2017-09-20 14:36:04Z

1

You could use DATETIMEFROMPARTS:

DECLARE @d NVARCHAR(10)='2017092018';

SELECT DATETIMEFROMPARTS(LEFT(@d,4),SUBSTRING(@d,5,2),SUBSTRING(@d,7,2),RIGHT(@d,2),0,0,0 ) ;

Rextester Demo

EDIT:

Another option:

DECLARE @S varchar(10)='2017092018'
SELECT CAST(LEFT(@s, 8) AS DATETIME) + RIGHT(@s,2)/24.0;

Rextester Demo2

edited Sep 20, 2017 at 14:36

answered Sep 20, 2017 at 14:27

Lukasz Szozda

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