str_to_date function in sql server?

Question

MySQL has a function called STR_TO_DATE, that converts a string to date.

Question:

Is there a similar function in SQL Server?

Answer 1

CAST(<string> AS DATETIME)

Answer 2

If you need to parse a particular format, use CONVERT(datetime, @mystring, @format). Use this as a reference: http://www.sqlusa.com/bestpractices/datetimeconversion/

Answer 3

Use CAST.

declare @MyString varchar(10)
declare @MyDate datetime

set @MyString = '2010-08-19'
set @MyDate = cast(@MyString as datetime)
select @MyDate

Answer 4

What if the string is 7/7/2010?

Then use CONVERT with either 101 (mm/dd/yy) or 103 (dd/mm/yy) depending on what you want:

SELECT CONVERT(DATE, '7/7/2010', 103)

Result:

2010-07-07