SQL Server function to return minimum date (January 1, 1753)

Question

I am looking for a SQL Server function to return the minimum value for datetime, namely January 1, 1753. I'd rather not hardcode that date value into my script.

Does anything like that exist? (For comparison, in C#, I could just do DateTime.MinValue) Or would I have to write this myself?

I am using Microsoft SQL Server 2008 Express.

Answer 1

You could write a User Defined Function that returns the min date value like this:

select cast(-53690 as datetime) 

Then use that function in your scripts, and if you ever need to change it, there is only one place to do that.

Alternately, you could use this query if you prefer it for better readability:

select cast('1753-1-1' as datetime) 

Example Function

create function dbo.DateTimeMinValue() returns datetime as begin     return (select cast(-53690 as datetime)) end 

Usage

select dbo.DateTimeMinValue() as DateTimeMinValue  DateTimeMinValue ----------------------- 1753-01-01 00:00:00.000 

Answer 2

Have you seen the SqlDateTime object? use SqlDateTime.MinValue to get your minimum date (Jan 1 1753).