Query with dates

Question

hi every body
i want to select date from today_date(column) from patients(table)
select today_date from patients where today_date = 17||''||12||80 ;
the problem is that i tried this in sql (example) 17||''||12||80 and it worked
but
when i changed the (12) to (02) refer to (february not december) there was an error
( literal does not match format string) -- error
why that happened
thanks a lot

Answer 1

Hi,
semsem wrote:
i am sorry for u all but non of u got me
i said that i did that in sql because we are in sql forum
but clearly i need that in forms builder , if u know about that It may be clear to you, but if you don't say you're using Forms Builder, why would anyone guess that? If you want help with your problem, then say what your problem is.
i have 3 list items in my form (1,2,3)
1- hold the value for days
2- the value for months
3- for years
and i wanna choose the date from the database from today_date(column) from patients(table) where
today_date = :list1||:list2||list3 In case it's not clear from the earlier replies, the different data types are not all the same. It may matter what kind of data type you're using in any given expression.
What are the data types of :list1, :list2 and :lsit3?
If they are all strings (e.g. VARCHAR2 or CHAR), then this example from my previous message applies:
Frank Kulash wrote:
WHERE      today_date = TO_DATE ( '17' || '02' || '80'
                         , 'DDMMRR'
                    ) but instead of the string literals '17', '02' amd '80', use your variables :lsit1, :lsit2 and :list3. You many want to do this:
WHERE      today_date = TO_DATE ( :list1 || :list2 || :list3
                         , 'DDMMRR'           -- 2-digt years are a very bad idea
                    ) assuming that
:list1 represents the day, :list2 represents the month, and :lsit3 represents the year. A lot of folks would use variable names that mean something, like
:day, :month and :year, or
:target_day, :target_month and :target_year.
If the data type of all 3 variables is NUMBER, then this example from my previous message appplies:
WHERE      today_date = TO_DATE ( TO_CHAR (17, 'FM00') ||
                           TO_CHAR (02, 'FM00') ||
                      TO_CHAR (80, 'FM00')
                         , 'DDMMRR'
                    )Again, you have to use your variables in place of the literals, so you'd do something like:
WHERE      today_date = TO_DATE ( TO_CHAR (:list1, 'FM00') ||
                           TO_CHAR (:list2, 'FM00') ||
                      TO_CHAR (:list3, 'FM00')
                         , 'DDMMRR'          -- 2-digit years are simply asking for trouble
                    )