Negative value on difference between dates

Question

0.00/5 (No votes)

See more:

Hi everyone,

I am using sql server 2005. On select query I make difference between dates. But for some rowa it is giving -ve values. how this problem be solved? Below is the example for -ve value

DATEDIFF(day,contractexpirydate,entrydate) DaysLeftForContractExpiry

where contractexpirydate=01/06/2010
and entrydate = 08/14/2002
result : -2702

thanks

Posted 18-May-10 0:44am

gujjula swathi

Updated 18-May-10 0:51am

Abhinav S

v2

Add a Solution

2 solutions

Solution 1

Change the values round. The format of DATEDIFF expects the start date before the end date, so you need to change it to:

DATEDIFF(day, entrydate, contractexpirydate) DaysLeftForContractExpiry

Posted 18-May-10 0:47am

Pete O'Hanlon

Add a Solution

Add your solution here

Treat my content as plain text, not as HTML

Preview 0

…

Existing Members

Sign in to your account

...or Join us

Download, Vote, Comment, Publish.

Your Email
Password
Forgot your password?

Your Email
This email is in use. Do you need your password?
Optional Password

I have read and agree to the Terms of Service and Privacy Policy
Please subscribe me to the CodeProject newsletters

When answering a question please:

Read the question carefully.
Understand that English isn't everyone's first language so be lenient of bad spelling and grammar.
If a question is poorly phrased then either ask for clarification, ignore it, or edit the question and fix the problem. Insults are not welcome.
Don't tell someone to read the manual. Chances are they have and don't get it. Provide an answer or move on to the next question.

Let's work to help developers, not make them feel stupid.

This content, along with any associated source code and files, is licensed under The Code Project Open License (CPOL)

Abhinav S · Accepted Answer · 2010-05-18T00:50:00

The syntax for DATEDIFF is DATEDIFF ( datepart , startdate , enddate )
where the date difference is calculated as (enddate - startdate).

As a result you are getting a negative result in the above query.
Change the order of the two columns in your query to fix this.

If you get other negative values, it basically means your contractexpiredate is less than your entrydate and your business logic should handle such conditions appropriately.