Add default value of datetime field in SQL Server to a timestamp

sql-server datetime
stephmoreland picture stephmoreland · Feb 3, 2011 · Viewed 771k times · Source

I've got a table that collects forms submitted from our website, but for some reason, when they created the table, they didn't put a timestamp in the table. I want it to enter the exact date and time that the record was entered.

I know it's in there somewhere, but I can't seem to find how to set the default value (like in Access, you use getNow() or Now()) but I don't know where to put it.

Answer

TheQ picture TheQ · Feb 3, 2011

For modifying an existing column in an existing table:

ALTER TABLE YourTable ADD CONSTRAINT DF_YourTable DEFAULT GETDATE() FOR YourColumn

Related questions

How to return only the Date from a SQL Server DateTime datatype

SELECT GETDATE() Returns: 2008-09-22 15:24:13.790 I want that date part without the time part: 2008-09-22 00:00:00.000 How can I get that?

Read More
SQL query to select dates between two dates

I have a start_date and end_date. I want to get the list of dates in between these two dates. Can anyone help me pointing the mistake in my query. select Date,TotalAllowance from Calculation where EmployeeId=1 and Date …

Read More
How to convert DateTime to VarChar

I am working on a query in Sql Server 2005 where I need to convert a value in DateTime variable into a varchar variable in yyyy-mm-dd format (without time part). How do I do that?

Read More