How Can I Avoid 'Conversion failed when converting date and/or time from character string' Errors in SQL Server?

Troubleshooting Datetime Insertion Issues in SQL Server

Inserting dates and times into SQL Server tables frequently results in "Conversion failed when converting date and/or time from character string" errors. This usually happens when the data format doesn't align with the database's expectations.

The solution involves using consistent datetime formats. SQL Server ideally accepts ISO-8601 format in these variations:

1. YYYYMMDD (date only)
2. YYYY-MM-DDTHH:mm:ss (date and time, with hyphens as separators)

Employing ISO-8601 ensures compatibility across different language and regional settings. For example, correct insertion would look like this:

INSERT INTO table1 VALUES ('2012-02-21T18:10:00', '2012-01-01T00:00:00');

For enhanced flexibility, SQL Server 2008 and later versions offer the DATETIME2 data type. This allows for more lenient parsing of datetime strings. The problematic values could be handled as follows:

SELECT
   CAST('02-21-2012 6:10:00 PM' AS DATETIME2),     -- Successful conversion
   CAST('01-01-2012 12:00:00 AM' AS DATETIME2);    -- Successful conversion

To prevent future conversion errors, developers should always use standardized datetime formats like ISO-8601 and, where possible, leverage the DATETIME2 data type for improved compatibility and error tolerance within SQL Server.

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