MySQL: Insert datetime into other datetime field

Question

I have a table with a DATETIME column. I would like to SELECT this datetime value and INSERT it into another column.

I did this (note: '2011-12-18 13:17:17' is the value the former SELECT gave me from the DATETIME field):

UPDATE products SET former_date=2011-12-18 13:17:17 WHERE id=1

and get

    1064 - You have an error in your SQL syntax; 
check the manual that corresponds to your MySQL server version 
for the right syntax to use near '13:17:17 WHERE itemid=1' at line 1

Ok, I understand it's wrong to put an unquoted string in there, but is DATETIME just a string in the first place? What do I put in there? All I want is reliably transfer the existing value over to a new datetime field...

EDIT:

The reason I ask is: I have this special definition, DATETIME, and somehow I thought it gives me some security and other advantages when handling dates. Now it seems it is simply a specialized VARCHAR, so to speak.

Thanks for your answers, it seems this is indeed the intended behaviour.

Answer 1

According to MySQL documentation, you should be able to just enclose that datetime string in single quotes, ('YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM:SS') and it should work. Look here: Date and Time Literals

So, in your case, the command should be as follows:

UPDATE products SET former_date='2011-12-18 13:17:17' WHERE id=1