> Better yet. Why not a date? A date should always be a date, wouldn't we call it something else if not?

Like datetime?

I'm happy to help. Thanks for the feedback

Nav - I think you will get more accurate/useful/quick answers if you post an example.

Post an example table structure, some example data for it, some example inputs, and what results...

Here's an example...

--data

create table SomeTable(ID int, Name varchar(10))

insert SomeTable

          select 1, 'Bob'

union all select 123, 'Jim'

--calculation

declare @sql nvarchar(100)

set @sql = N'select @Name...

Reet - I think you will get more accurate/useful/quick answers if you post an example.

Post an example table structure, some example data for it, some example inputs, and how you...

Here's an example, Swapnil,

--objects

create proc #sp1 @x int output as

set @x = @x + 1

go

--calculation

declare @x int

set @x = 7

exec #sp1 @x...

Here are a few articles which may help you...

http://www.aspfaq.com/show.asp?id=2149

http://www.dbazine.com/sql/sql-articles/larsen13

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/308042/EN-US/

It's usually more efficient to avoid varchar when comparing dates, and to try to stick to the datetime format. The following should behave the same way, but give you better...