Using Time datatype in MySQL without seconds

Question

I'm trying to store a 12/24hr (ie; 00:00) clock time in a MySQL database. At the moment I am using the time datatype. This works ok but it insists on adding the seconds to the column. So you enter 09:20 and it is stored as 09:20:00. Is there any way I can limit it in MySQL to just 00:00?

Answer 1

That doesn't look possible. The TIME data type is defined to represent the time of the day (or elapsed time) with a 1 second resolution. However, you can always use the DATE_FORMAT() function to format your field as HH:MM in a SELECT query:

SELECT DATE_FORMAT(NOW(), '%k:%i');
+-----------------------------+
| DATE_FORMAT(NOW(), '%k:%i') |
+-----------------------------+
| 4:09                        |
+-----------------------------+
1 row in set (0.00 sec)


SELECT DATE_FORMAT(NOW(), '%H:%i');
+-----------------------------+
| DATE_FORMAT(NOW(), '%H:%i') |
+-----------------------------+
| 04:09                       |
+-----------------------------+
1 row in set (0.00 sec)