How to Insert a Date in a DB2 Database
By Usha Dadighat
IBM created the DB2 database system as an open environment database solution. This allows users to set up a DB2 database on a range of platforms for either small projects or large enterprise solutions. DB2 databases use the SQL language to form queries or instructions on how to add, remove or select items from the database. SQL uses a special date format as a data type you can insert into a DB2 database.
Click "Start," then click "All Programs." Click the "IMB DB2" folder and click "Command Center" to open the program. Open the SQL code where you need to insert the date. Make sure your program has "connect to [database] user [username] using [password]" and replace [database] with the name of your database and [username] and [password] with any needed username and password to access the database.
Create a table with an entry that accepts the date format. For example "CREATE TABLE sample (name VARCHAR(10), birthday DATE);" will create a table called "sample" with one row and two columns, the first called "name" and the second "birthday."
Insert any entries with the date into the DB2 database using the SQL "INSERT" instruction. For example, "INSERT INTO sample VALUES('Mary', '1980-02-01');" will add an entry to the "sample" database with the name "Mary" and a birthday of February 1, 1980. The SQL date type uses the format "year-month-day" as a standard to reduce confusion. Repeat as needed for any other entries in the table.
SQL Zoo: Insert a Date - DB2
Michael Thomas: DB2 Survival Guide
Webopedia: DB2
Usha Dadighat has been writing since 2008. She earned a Bachelor of Science in computer science and a minor in psychology from the Missouri University of Science and Technology in December 2010. She currently works as a software development engineer and has extensive technical writing experience.