Subject Re: D2109 - INSERT INTO for a literal date doesn't seem to recognise From BRUCE HEATH <sideshow@specsol.com.au> Date Mon, 03 Mar 2025 00:16:46 -0500 Newsgroups dbase.getting-started Ken Mayer Wrote: > On 3/2/2025 2:06 PM, BRUCE HEATH wrote: > > Hi, > > > > I'm playing with dBase 2109 and noticed that INSERT INTO seems a bit flaky when loading  DATE information. > > > > I have a simple rountine that uses INSERT INTO (date_field) VALUES (date_string) and I'm trying to load a date in DD/MM/YY format. Both the Windows 10 system and the Dbase ini file have the date format set to DD/MM/YY > > > > e.g. > > INSERT INTO (fd) VALUES ("27/12/59") > > This prompts a :Database Engine Error : Type mismatch in expression" error. > > > > if I change it to american format e.g. > > > > INSERT INTO (fd) VALUES ("12/27/59")   //so MM/DD/YY format > > > > it goes through without a fault, but I'm wondering why the command fails. > > > > It seems as though the command doesn't recognise either the system format or the dBase SET DATE format. > > > > When I retrieve the data, however, it's in the "right" format (DD/MM/YY) even though the load in requires MM/DD/YY. > > Dates usually must be entered in a year/month/day format for SQL, and > the INSERT INTO command is local SQL via the BDE, or the current date > format for your database and dBASE. How is the software supposed to know > what parts of > > What part of either of the three parts of the date is supposed to be the > day of the month, the month, and the year? It's a good idea to use > four-digit years, as well. (If you used for your data 25 for the year, > is that 1925, 2025 ...?) > > Try using:  1958/12/27 > > And see what happens. > > Ken ******************* Thanks Ken, Appreciate the rapid feedback. Tried  MM/DD/YYYY and that worked fine, so YY or YYYY doesn't seem to make a difference. Tried YYYY/MM/DD and it threw the same "Database Engine Error : Type mismatch in expression". Guess I'm stuck with doing it in US format. Cheers.