Insert error: the conversion of a varchar datatype to a datetime data type resulted in an out-of-range value

Question

I am using the following code to insert StartDate(s) and EndDate(s) into my Iterations table. I am displaying the output in my textbox like this: dd/MM/yyyy, but am writing to my db as MM/dd/yyyy, because of the datetime data type - hence I'm using:

System.Globalization.CultureInfo ci = new System.Globalization.CultureInfo("en-GB");
sc.Add(proj_id + "," + Convert.ToDateTime(box1.Text, ci) + "," + Convert.ToDateTime(box2.Text, ci));

I'm pretty sure this code worked just fine on localhost, but when I uploaded it to a server, I am getting the error: Insert error: the conversion of a varchar datatype to a datetime data type resulted in an out-of-range value. Please help! thanks!

Here's the full code:

private void InsertRecords(StringCollection sc)
{

    SqlConnection conn = new SqlConnection(GetConnectionString());
    StringBuilder sb = new StringBuilder(string.Empty);

    string[] splitItems = null;

    foreach (string item in sc)
    {
        const string sqlStatement = "INSERT INTO Iterations (ProjectID, StartDate, EndDate) VALUES";

        if (item.Contains(","))
        {

            splitItems = item.Split(",".ToCharArray());
            sb.AppendFormat("{0}('{1}','{2}','{3}'); ", sqlStatement, splitItems[0], splitItems[1], splitItems[2]);

        }
    }

    string sql = "INSERT INTO ProjectIterationMember (ProjectIterationID, MemberID) SELECT ProjectIterationID AS pro_it_id, @member_id FROM Iterations WHERE ProjectID = '" + proj_id + "'";

    try
    {

        conn.Open();
        SqlCommand cmd = new SqlCommand(sb.ToString(), conn);
        SqlCommand cmd2 = new SqlCommand(sql, conn);

        cmd.CommandType = CommandType.Text;
        cmd.ExecuteNonQuery();

        SqlParameter memberParameter = new SqlParameter("@member_id", SqlDbType.Int);
        cmd2.Parameters.Add(memberParameter);

        cmd2.CommandType = CommandType.Text;

        cmd2.Prepare();

        memberParameter.Value = project_manager.SelectedValue;
        cmd2.ExecuteNonQuery();

        for (int i = 0; i < project_members.Items.Count; ++i)
        {

            if (project_members.Items[i].Selected)
            {

                memberParameter.Value = project_members.Items[i].Value;
                cmd2.ExecuteNonQuery();
            }
        }

        //Display a popup which indicates that the record was successfully inserted
        Page.ClientScript.RegisterClientScriptBlock(typeof(Page), "Script", "alert('New iterations were successfully added!');", true);
    }

    catch (System.Data.SqlClient.SqlException ex)
    {

        string msg = "Insert Error:";
        msg += ex.Message;
        throw new Exception(msg);
    }

    finally
    {
        conn.Close();
    }

}

protected void btnSaveIterations_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
{

    int rowIndex = 0;

    StringCollection sc = new StringCollection();

    if (ViewState["CurrentTable"] != null)
    {

        DataTable dtCurrentTable = (DataTable)ViewState["CurrentTable"];


        if (dtCurrentTable.Rows.Count > 0)
        {

            for (int i = 1; i <= dtCurrentTable.Rows.Count; i++)
            {

                //extract the TextBox values
                TextBox box1 = (TextBox)Gridview1.Rows[rowIndex].Cells[1].FindControl("start_iteration");
                TextBox box2 = (TextBox)Gridview1.Rows[rowIndex].Cells[2].FindControl("end_iteration");

                System.Globalization.CultureInfo ci = new System.Globalization.CultureInfo("en-GB");

                //get the values from the TextBoxes
                //then add it to the collections with a comma "," as the delimited values

                sc.Add(proj_id + "," + Convert.ToDateTime(box1.Text, ci) + "," + Convert.ToDateTime(box2.Text, ci));

                rowIndex++;

            }

            //Call the method for executing inserts

            InsertRecords(sc);
            Response.Redirect(Request.Url.ToString());

            //r.Close();
            //conn.Close();

        }
    }
}

Have you checked that the development environment and the server have the same localization/region setting? — David Hall

marc_s marc_s · Accepted Answer · 2011-02-22T06:09:53

First of all: concatenating together your INSERT statement is really really bad practice and opens the door to SQL Injection. Don't do it - use parametrized queries instead!

const string sqlStatement = 
   "INSERT INTO Iterations (ProjectID, StartDate, EndDate) " + 
   "VALUES(@ProjectID, @StartDate, @EndDate)";

and here:

string sql = 
   "INSERT INTO ProjectIterationMember (ProjectIterationID, MemberID) "  + 
   "SELECT ProjectIterationID AS pro_it_id, @member_id " + 
   "FROM Iterations WHERE ProjectID = @ProjectID";

You will need to setup parameters for your SqlCommand and pass in the values before executing the query.

SqlCommand _cmd = new SqlCommand(sqlStatement, _connection);

_cmd.Parameters.Add("@ProjectID", SqlDbType.Int);
_cmd.Parameters["@ProjectID"].Value = 42;

_cmd.Parameters.Add("@StartDate", SqlDbType.DateTime);
_cmd.Parameters["@StartDate"].Value = Convert.ToDateTime(your textbox string);

_cmd.Parameters.Add("@EndDate", SqlDbType.DateTime);
_cmd.Parameters["@EndDate"].Value = Convert.ToDateTime(your textbox string);

Second: SQL Server has a range from 1/1/1753 to the end of the year 9999 - if any of your strings represent a date before 1753, you're getting this problem. Validate your inputs! When you use parametrized queries, you can do this at the point where you're setting the values of the SqlCommand.Parameters - anything outside the range that SQL Server supports (e.g. dates like "1/1/0001" and so forth) must be "sanitized" before being passed into SQL Server.

Insert error: the conversion of a varchar datatype to a datetime data type resulted in an out-of-range value

1 Answers