PL/SQL Character to date convertion issue

Question

Dear all,
I encounter an issue with character to date convertions in PL/SQL.
The following is a short description:
I use an Oracle DBMS 8i and the problem is a wrong insertion of a date value to a column table.
The date value is retrieved from a table and is type of VARCHAR2(240). Then a convertion to the DATE type takes place and this value (date) is inserted to another table column of type DATE.
For example if the date retrieved as VARCHAR2 is '21/05/2003' the value inserted is '21/5/0003'.
The convertion is made by the following portion of code:
dateVariable Date := NULL:
dateStringVariable is retrieved from the db and is type of VARCHAR2(240)
DATE_FORMAT is a string retireved from the db with value equals to 'DD/MM/YYYY HH24:MI:SS'
dateVariable := TO_DATE(dateStringVariable, DATE_FORMAT);
Then the dateVariable is inserted to a recordSet which in turn is the one inserted to the db.
My guess is that the problem is during the char to date convertion.
I wonder if anyone knows what produces this error.
Any suggestion is welcome.
With regards

Answer 1

SQL> desc t
Name                                      Null?    Type
DATE#                                              DATE
SQL> alter session set nls_date_format = 'DD-MON-RR';
Session altered.
SQL> select * from t;
no rows selected
SQL> insert into t values(to_date('21/05/2003','DD/MM/YYYY'));
1 row created.Now Oracle keeps correct date - 21th of May 2003.
How you display it depends on your NLS_DATE_FORMAT settings:
SQL> select * from t;
DATE#
21-MAY-03
SQL> alter session set nls_date_format = 'MM/DD/YYYY';
Session altered.
SQL> select * from t;
DATE#
05/21/2003So now try to do
SELECT to_char(<<your new date column>>,'DD/MM/YYYY') from <<your table>>
to be sure your date is kept right.
Rgds.