Edwin M SarmientoISDATE() function returns 0 for valid DATETIMEOFFSET values? – Edwin M Sarmiento https://www.edwinmsarmiento.com Intentional Excellence Mon, 13 Apr 2026 21:00:49 +0000 en-US hourly 1 84283043 ISDATE() function returns 0 for valid DATETIMEOFFSET values? https://www.edwinmsarmiento.com/isdate-function-returns-0-for-valid-datetimeoffset-values/ https://www.edwinmsarmiento.com/isdate-function-returns-0-for-valid-datetimeoffset-values/#respond Tue, 08 Sep 2009 22:02:00 +0000 Edwin M Sarmiento http://bassplayerdoc.wordpress.com/2009/09/08/isdate-function-returns-0-for-valid-datetimeoffset-values Quite confusing but true. I was working on trying to validate a specific value if it is indeed a valid DATETIMEOFFSET data type using the ISDATE() function until I saw this forum post

“Adam,

The problem is that ISDATE returns 0 for valid DATETIMEOFFSET values.”

I couldn’t believe it since Books Online until I tested it out myself

IF ISDATE('2009-09-08 10:19:41.177 -05:00') = 1
PRINT 'VALID'
ELSE
PRINT 'INVALID'

This returns INVALID when, in fact, it is a valid datetime value with time zone awareness. I even tried the values provided by Books Online and still gives me invalid results. I have yet to wait for a response from the SQL Server product group regarding this but at least it gives us an opportunity to dig deper

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