Postgres Data type conversion

Question

I have this dataset that's in a SQL format. However the DATE type needs to be converted into a different format because I get the following error

CREATE TABLE
INSERT 0 1
INSERT 0 1
INSERT 0 1
INSERT 0 1
ERROR:  date/time field value out of range: "28-10-96"
LINE 58: ...040','2','10','','P13-00206','','','','','1-3-95','28-10-96'...
                                                          ^
HINT:  Perhaps you need a different "datestyle" setting.

I've definitely read the documentation on date format http://www.postgresql.org/docs/current/static/datatype-datetime.html

But my question is how do I convert all of the dates in a proper format without going through all the 500 or so data rows and making sure each one is correct before inserting into a DB. Backend is handle by rails, but I figured going through SQL to cleaning it up will be best here.

I have a CREATE TABLE statement above this dataset, and mind you the data set was given to be via a DBF converter/external source

Here's part of my dataset

INSERT INTO winery_attributes
  (ID,NAME,STATUS,BLDSZ_ORIG,BLDSZ_CURR,HAS_CAVE,CAVESIZE,PROD_ORIG,PROD_CURR,TOUR_TASTG,VISIT_DAY,VISIT_WEEK,VISIT_YR,VISIT_MKTG,VISIT_NMEV,VISIT_ALL,EMPLYEENUM,PARKINGNUM,WDO,LAST_UP,IN_CITYBDY,IN_AIASP,NOTES,SMLWNRYEXM,APPRV_DATE,ESTAB_DATE,TOTAL_SIZE,SUBJ_TO_75,GPY_AT_75,AVA,SUP_DIST)
VALUES
  (1,'ACACIA WINERY','PROD','8000','34436','','0','50000','250000','APPT','75','525','27375','3612','63','30987','22','97','x','001_02169-MOD_AcaciaWinery','','','','','1-11-79','1-9-82','34436','x','125000','Los Carneros','1');

INSERT INTO winery_attributes
  (ID,NAME,STATUS,BLDSZ_ORIG,BLDSZ_CURR,HAS_CAVE,CAVESIZE,PROD_ORIG,PROD_CURR,TOUR_TASTG,VISIT_DAY,VISIT_WEEK,VISIT_YR,VISIT_MKTG,VISIT_NMEV,VISIT_ALL,EMPLYEENUM,PARKINGNUM,WDO,LAST_UP,IN_CITYBDY,IN_AIASP,NOTES,SMLWNRYEXM,APPRV_DATE,ESTAB_DATE,TOTAL_SIZE,SUBJ_TO_75,GPY_AT_75,AVA,SUP_DIST)
VALUES
  ('2','AETNA SPRING CELLARS','PROD','2500','2500','','0','2000','20000','TST APPT','0','3','156','0','0','156','1','10','x','','','','','x','1-4-86','1-6-86','2500','','0','Napa Valley','3');

INSERT INTO winery_attributes
  (ID,NAME,STATUS,BLDSZ_ORIG,BLDSZ_CURR,HAS_CAVE,CAVESIZE,PROD_ORIG,PROD_CURR,TOUR_TASTG,VISIT_DAY,VISIT_WEEK,VISIT_YR,VISIT_MKTG,VISIT_NMEV,VISIT_ALL,EMPLYEENUM,PARKINGNUM,WDO,LAST_UP,IN_CITYBDY,IN_AIASP,NOTES,SMLWNRYEXM,APPRV_DATE,ESTAB_DATE,TOTAL_SIZE,SUBJ_TO_75,GPY_AT_75,AVA,SUP_DIST)
VALUES
  ('3','ALTA VINEYARD CELLAR','PROD','480','480','','0','5000','5000','NO','0','4','208','0','0','208','4','6','x','003_U-387879','','','','','2-5-79','1-9-80','480','','0','Diamond Mountain District','3');

INSERT INTO winery_attributes
  (ID,NAME,STATUS,BLDSZ_ORIG,BLDSZ_CURR,HAS_CAVE,CAVESIZE,PROD_ORIG,PROD_CURR,TOUR_TASTG,VISIT_DAY,VISIT_WEEK,VISIT_YR,VISIT_MKTG,VISIT_NMEV,VISIT_ALL,EMPLYEENUM,PARKINGNUM,WDO,LAST_UP,IN_CITYBDY,IN_AIASP,NOTES,SMLWNRYEXM,APPRV_DATE,ESTAB_DATE,TOTAL_SIZE,SUBJ_TO_75,GPY_AT_75,AVA,SUP_DIST)
VALUES
  ('4','BLACK STALLION','PROD','43600','43600','','0','100000','100000','PUB','50','350','18200','0','0','18200','2','45','x','P13-00391','','','','','1-5-80','1-9-85','43600','','0','Oak Knoll District of Napa Valley','3');

INSERT INTO winery_attributes
  (ID,NAME,STATUS,BLDSZ_ORIG,BLDSZ_CURR,HAS_CAVE,CAVESIZE,PROD_ORIG,PROD_CURR,TOUR_TASTG,VISIT_DAY,VISIT_WEEK,VISIT_YR,VISIT_MKTG,VISIT_NMEV,VISIT_ALL,EMPLYEENUM,PARKINGNUM,WDO,LAST_UP,IN_CITYBDY,IN_AIASP,NOTES,SMLWNRYEXM,APPRV_DATE,ESTAB_DATE,TOTAL_SIZE,SUBJ_TO_75,GPY_AT_75,AVA,SUP_DIST)
VALUES
  ('5','ALTAMURA WINERY','PROD','11800','11800','x','3115','50000','50000','APPT','0','20','1040','0','0','1040','2','10','','P13-00206','','','','','1-3-95','28-10-96','14915','x','50000','Napa Valley','4');

Answer 1

The dates in your data set are in the form of a string. Since they are not in the default datestyle (which is YYYY-MM-DD) you should explicitly convert them to a date as follows:

to_date('1-5-80', 'DD-MM-YY')

If you store the data in a timestamp instead, use

to_timestamp('1-5-80', 'DD-MM-YY')

If you are given the data set in the form of the INSERT statements that you show, then first load all the data as simple strings into varchar columns, then add date columns and do an UPDATE (and similarly for integer and boolean columns):

UPDATE my_table
SET estab = to_date(ESTAB_DATE, 'DD-MM-YY'), -- column estab of type date
    apprv = to_date(APPRV_DATE, 'DD-MM-YY'), -- etc
    ...

When the update is done you can ALTER TABLE to drop the text columns with dates (integers, booleans).