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 an

Answer 1

Here is a fast and highly readable way to get the min date value

Note: This is a Deterministic Function, so to improve performance further we might as well apply WITH SCHEMABINDING to the return value.

Create a function

CREATE FUNCTION MinDate()
RETURNS DATETIME WITH SCHEMABINDING
AS
BEGIN
    RETURN CONVERT(DATETIME, -53690)

END

Call the function

dbo.MinDate()

Example 1

PRINT dbo.MinDate()

Example 2

PRINT 'The minimimum date allowed in an SQL database is ' + CONVERT(VARCHAR(MAX), dbo.MinDate())

Example 3

SELECT * FROM Table WHERE DateValue > dbo.MinDate()

Example 4

SELECT dbo.MinDate() AS MinDate

Example 5

DECLARE @MinDate AS DATETIME = dbo.MinDate()

SELECT @MinDate AS MinDate

Answer 2

The range for datetime will not change, as that would break backward compatibility. So you can hard code it.

Answer 3

This is what I use to get the minimum date in SQL Server. Please note that it is globalisation friendly:

CREATE FUNCTION [dbo].[DateTimeMinValue]()
RETURNS datetime
AS
BEGIN
  RETURN (SELECT
    CAST('17530101' AS datetime))
END

Call using:

SELECT [dbo].[DateTimeMinValue]()

Answer 4

It's not January 1, 1753 but select cast('' as datetime) wich reveals: 1900-01-01 00:00:00.000 gives the default value by SQL server. (Looks more uninitialized to me anyway)

Answer 5

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 6

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