Error - SqlDateTime overflow. Must be between 1/1/1753 12:00:00 AM and 12/31/9999 11:59:59 PM

Question

i have an app written for 2008.

We are using linq to entities.

We've now had to switch the DB to 2005. I am getting the following error on linq SELECT queries:

Error - SqlDateTime overflow. Must be between 1/1/1753 12:00:00 AM and 12/31/9999 11:59:59 PM.

The offending line is:

DateOfBirth = ((s.Date_Of_Birth == null) || (s.Date_Of_Birth <= lowdate)) ?
    DateTime.MinValue : s.Date_Of_Birth.Value,

DateOfBirth is of type DateTime and a property in our own business object (not entity).

Anyone know how i can modify this line to make this query run?

Answer 1

I've created an extension function for this:

/// <summary>
/// Will return null if the CLR datetime will not fit in an SQL datetime
/// </summary>
/// <param name="datetime"></param>
/// <returns></returns>
    public static DateTime? EnsureSQLSafe(this DateTime? datetime)
    {
        if (datetime.HasValue && (datetime.Value < (DateTime)SqlDateTime.MinValue || datetime.Value > (DateTime)SqlDateTime.MaxValue))
            return null;

        return datetime;
    }

Answer 2

Also, just to add to the good answers here, try using SqlDateTime.MinValue instead of 1/1/1973 or DateTime.MinValue.

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/system.data.sqltypes.sqldatetime.minvalue.aspx

Sure, it's the same thing as 1/1/1973, but it's a lot cleaner and a lot less magical.

Answer 3

Make sure that lowdate is at least 1/1/1753.

If you try to supply a date prior to that, EF will convert it, and pass it into your query. In addition, you need to not use DateTime.MinValue in the query, but rather what would be your min:

DateOfBirth = ((s.Date_Of_Birth == null) || (s.Date_Of_Birth <= lowdate)) ?
    new DateTime(1753,1,1) : s.Date_Of_Birth.Value;

Remember, with EF, the query gets compiled and converted to SQL on the server, so the values must all be appropriate there, as well.

That being said, I'd personally prefer to store DateOfBirth as DateTime? (nullable type) instead of using a "magic value" (DateTime.MinValue) to hold database null or inappropriate values.