mssql_query() fields blank for datetime fields

Question

Running php 5.2.5 on Windows Server 2003 (64 bit) and connecting to SQL Server 2008

Having issues getting datetime fields from SQL Server using mssql_query. Any datetime field that I query returns nothing. All other fields in the query are correct, but the datetime fields are blank.

We switched from PEAR DB to mssql_ functions recently and that was the cause of the issue. Switching back to PEAR is not an option.

I found this on php.net mssql_query page and it does work, but I've got hundreds of queries and I was hoping there was a solution that wouldn't require us updating every single query. Anyone have a better solution that would not involve rewriting every query?

"I was tripped up by the fact that mssql_query() returns values for 'datetime' columns in an unusual format. In order to get your values returned in the usual 'YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM:SS' format, you can use the CONVERT function in your query like so:

SELECT CONVERT(varchar, INVOICE_DATE, 121) AS INVOICE_DATE ...

where 'INVOICE_DATE' is the name of the 'datetime' column."

Answer 1

Ended up just doing some string replacement to work around this.

First I created an array of date fields that I could possibly select from the SQL Server DB I was working with.

We've got a DB Abstraction class we run every query through.

In the DB class I check to see if "FROM" was in the query. If it was I split the string on FROM to get the SELECT fields part Then I do a foreach on the array of fields and if that field exists in the string I replace the field with CONVERT(varchar, FIELD, 121) AS FIELD

Works great for me...doesn't work with SELECT * but we don't use any SELECT * queries so not a problem for us.