Dynamic SQL Query To_Date Format Oracle

Question

I am using Oracle SQL Developer.

My tutor has asked us to include Dynamic Queries into our SQL statement.

Part of my query is this:

where booking.date_event != to_date('20140309','yyyymmdd') and booking.occassion_id=2

I have modified the query one step at a time to include the dynamic aspect. So it now looks like this:

where booking.date_event != to_date('20140309','yyyymmdd') and booking.occassion_id='&occassion_id'

This gives me the pop-up box to enter the ID correctly and it works correctly.

However, i now want to do the same for the date. But obviously entering a date in the format 'yyyymmdd' is not very user friendly.

How can i change my query to either allow for various types of date format or to add a message to the pop up box to inform the user to use the correct format? At the moment the pop up box only says "Date_Event" and an input box.

Answer 1

try to_date function. Here is some tips for to_date function.

http://www.dba-oracle.com/f_to_date.htm

Answer 2

SQL Developer is no tool for users. So you don't really have to worry about '20140309' format not being user friendly. For real users you would write a real app that accepts a date (with a calendar popup for instance) and sends it to the database in appropriate format.

However to have it a bit more convenient in SQL Developer, you could use to_date without format. Having set your environment and the database to the same locale, you could simply enter a date in the format you are used to (eg 9.3.13 or 09.03.2013 or March 9, 2013) and it should all work.