Re: select query on Dates stored as varchar

On Mon, Aug 30, 2010 at 2:53 PM, Yosef Haas <yosef(at)karatedepot(dot)com> wrote:
> I know it would be best to change the data type of the column (I didn't
> initially create the table), but doing so would be require changes to
> several application that use it and I'd like to avoid that if possible.

1. Most of those changes would involve chain saw type work on those
apps, i.e. cutting out huge chunks of logic in the app to deal with
the insanity of a text type storing a timestamp or date in 18
different ways.
2. Any new app written now gets inherit the insanity of having to deal
with the 18 crazy ways a date / timestamp can get entered into the
system.
3. In the future, after converting, math is simple:
where timestampfield between now()-interval '2 days' and now()
and so on.
Trust me, in the long run, you'll be thankful to have the right data
type in there, and your applications will tend to do the right thing.

--
To understand recursion, one must first understand recursion.