What am I doing wrong?

[sukimac]

I received this advice re: whether you can use to_char on insert


Sure, just insert:

... to_char( :date_field, 'yyyymmddhh24miss' ) ....

and select out

to_date( date_column, 'yyyymmddhh24miss' )

when I try to use to_char on the insert I receive a column not allowed error message. Is the advice above really suggested a PL/SQL procedure? How to assign my date_val to the :date_field?

[kmesser]

SQL> create table testdate (a varchar2(50)) tablespace users;

Table created.

SQL> insert into testdate select To_char(sysdate) from dual;

1 row created.

SQL> commit;

Commit complete.

SQL> select * from testdate;

A
--------------------------------------------------
11-MAY-01

SQL> select to_date(a) from testdate;

TO_DATE(A
---------
11-MAY-01




Is this what you can't do?

[Dave_A]

If you are converting the field back to a date in order to output it, why are you attempting to store it in a character field?

Seems to me that it would be easier to just store the date field as a date, and then there would be no need for conversion.

HTH

David.