Data type required in a mysql for a date containin

Question

Hi guys I'm using wamp server and I have a database with a date of birth field. I would simply like to know what data type would be suitable for the way date of birth is specified on my website (January 01 1996). I would like to get a sample mysql query using the DATE_FORMAT() function. Most of the posts I've seen use SELECT and SELECT*. But I believe this should be replaced with UPDATE. As in UPDATE users SET dob = DATE_FORMAT(dob, '%m/%d/%Y')); . Please find my code for how the date of birth is specified below:

<label id= "dob" for="dob">Date of birth:</label>
       <!-- Month dropdown -->
<select name="dob" id="month" onchange="" size="1">
    <option value="01">January</option>
    <option value="02">February</option>
    <option value="03">March</option>
    <option value="04">April</option>
    <option value="05">May</option>
    <option value="06">June</option>
    <option value="07">July</option>
    <option value="08">August</option>
    <option value="09">September</option>
    <option value="10">October</option>
    <option value="11">November</option>
    <option value="12">December</option>
</select>

<!-- Day dropdown -->
<select name="dob" id="day" onchange="" size="1">
    <option value="01">01</option>
    <option value="02">02</option>
    <option value="03">03</option>
    <option value="04">04</option>
    <option value="05">05</option>
    <option value="06">06</option>
    <option value="07">07</option>
    <option value="08">08</option>
    <option value="09">09</option>
    <option value="10">10</option>
    <option value="11">11</option>
    <option value="12">12</option>
    <option value="13">13</option>
    <option value="14">14</option>
    <option value="15">15</option>
    <option value="16">16</option>
    <option value="17">17</option>
    <option value="18">18</option>
    <option value="19">19</option>
    <option value="20">20</option>
    <option value="21">21</option>
    <option value="22">22</option>
    <option value="23">23</option>
    <option value="24">24</option>
    <option value="25">25</option>
    <option value="26">26</option>
    <option value="27">27</option>
    <option value="28">28</option>
    <option value="29">29</option>
    <option value="30">30</option>
    <option value="31">31</option>
</select>

<select id="birthyear" name="dob">
<option value="1996">1996</option>
<option value="1995">1995</option>
<option value="1994">1994</option>
<option value="1993">1993</option>
<option value="1992">1992</option>
<option value="1991">1991</option>
<option value="1990">1990</option>
<option value="1989">1989</option>
<option value="1988">1988</option>
<option value="1987">1987</option>
<option value="1986">1986</option>
<option value="1985">1985</option>
<option value="1984">1984</option>
<option value="1983">1983</option>
<option value="1982">1982</option>
<option value="1981">1981</option>
<option value="1980">1980</option>
<option value="1979">1979</option>
<option value="1978">1978</option>
<option value="1977">1977</option>
<option value="1976">1976</option>
<option value="1975">1975</option>
<option value="1974">1974</option>
<option value="1973">1973</option>
<option value="1972">1972</option>
<option value="1971">1971</option>
<option value="1970">1970</option>
<option value="1969">1969</option>
<option value="1968">1968</option>
<option value="1967">1967</option>
<option value="1966">1966</option>
<option value="1965">1965</option>
<option value="1964">1964</option>
<option value="1963">1963</option>
<option value="1962">1962</option>
<option value="1961">1961</option>
<option value="1960">1960</option>
<option value="1959">1959</option>
<option value="1958">1958</option>
<option value="1957">1957</option>
<option value="1956">1956</option>
<option value="1955">1955</option>
<option value="1954">1954</option>
<option value="1953">1953</option>
<option value="1952">1952</option>
<option value="1951">1951</option>
<option value="1950">1950</option>
<option value="1949">1949</option>
<option value="1948">1948</option>
<option value="1947">1947</option>
<option value="1946">1946</option>
<option value="1945">1945</option>
<option value="1944">1944</option>
<option value="1943">1943</option>
<option value="1942">1942</option>
<option value="1941">1941</option>
<option value="1940">1940</option>
<option value="1939">1939</option>
<option value="1938">1938</option>
<option value="1937">1937</option>
<option value="1936">1936</option>
<option value="1935">1935</option>
<option value="1934">1934</option>
<option value="1933">1933</option>
<option value="1932">1932</option>
<option value="1931">1931</option>
<option value="1930">1930</option>
<option value="1929">1929</option>
<option value="1928">1928</option>
<option value="1927">1927</option>
<option value="1926">1926</option>
<option value="1925">1925</option>
<option value="1924">1924</option>
<option value="1923">1923</option>
<option value="1922">1922</option>
<option value="1921">1921</option>
<option value="1920">1920</option>
</select>

       </p>

Answer 1

$query = "INSERT INTO users (username, date_of_birth) ";
$query .= "VALUES ('John Doe', 'DATE: Manual Date', '2008-7-04')";

The manual date acts somewhat like most StringToTime functions in most scripting languages.

Another way to store time, and is actually a little bit more efficient, is to use the scripting language (like PHP) to format the time into microtome and store it in the database as an INT(11). So when retrieving the microtime back from the database you can just display it any way you like and is even faster to just do calculations with it :).

Answer 2

When saving date in the database, use the correct datatype DATE or DATETIME. Don't use VARCHAR

Pros:

• easy to manipulate
• requires no casting when manipulating data
• index will be used (if a key was defined)

Cons

• can't think of something..

If the reason why you want to save date in this format January 01 1996 is because it is more readable than 1996-01-01, then don't. This can be achieve using DATE_FORMAT() during the projection of the data.