Update query problem

Question

Hello
I'm trying to write an update query either in a single statement or stored procedure that updates a numeric column based on a date column. I do this using:
UPDATE DATE SMSCLOSED_CTYWOA SET 'date_action_start' = to_number(to_char('action_date' ,'MMDDYY')); No big deal. The problem is both column names have apostrophe's in their name (i.e. '). When I run this query the 'action_date' segment returns an error:
ERROR at line 1:
ORA-01747: invalid user.table.column, table.column, or column specification
Any advice would be appreciated.
Thanks in advance.

Answer 1

If you had a normal table, like:
Name Null? Type
DATE_ACTION_START NUMBER(6)
ACTION_DATE DATE
the command would be:
UPDATE smsclosed_ctywoa
SET date_action_start = TO_NUMBER(TO_CHAR(action_date,'MMDDYY'));
However, if you have a table like:
Name Null? Type
'date_action_start' NUMBER(6)
'action_date' DATE
which is a really poor table design, then the command would be:
UPDATE smsclosed_ctywoa
SET "'date_action_start'" = TO_NUMBER(TO_CHAR("'action_date'",'MMDDYY'));
Note that, in both cases, there is no DATE after the word UPDATE.
In the second case, if your column names have apostrophes and are in lower case, which is a really bad design, then you need to enclosed them in double quotes.
Another thing you should be aware of is that, because date_action_start is a number field, you will be losing the leading zeroes, so July 9, 2001 will be 70901, not 070901.
It looks like you need to seriously reconsider your table design.
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