Converting nvarchar(50) column to datetime in SQL CE 4.0

Question

I'm new to SQL and have inherited a database which uses nvarchar(50) as the data type for the "Date" column. I want to convert this column into datetime format but I cannot figure out how to do so as I am using SQL CE 4.0 and can only find solutions for SQL.

This is an example in SQL of what I would like to do:

SET DATEFORMAT dmy
alter TABLE [dbo].[tablename]
ALTER COLUMN columnname datetime

I know I will probably need to create a new column and copy/convert the data from the old column into the new one using a query. I just need some guidance on how to do this.

Currently the Date column is in the format "dd/MM/yyyy hh:mm:ss tt".

I have been using Microsoft WebMatrix if that is helpful at all.

Thanks!

Answer 1

I agree with you: the best solution is to create a new column

ALTER TABLE yourTable ADD COLUMN newColumn DATETIME

(the SET DATEFORMAT statement doesn't exist in SQL Server Compact)

and copy data converting the format

UPDATE yourTable SET newColumn = CONVERT(datetime, oldColumn, 103)

For an in depth description of the SQL Server Compact commands look at http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms173372.aspx