Loops Concepts:

In general, statements are executed sequentially- The first statement in a function is executed first,
followed by the second, and so on. There may be a situation when you need to execute a block of code
several number of times. Programming languages provide various control structures that allow more
complicated execution paths. A loop statement allows us to execute a statement or group of statements
multiple times. The following diagram illustrates a loop statement.

And Basic Sql theory,

TRUNC - Truncate Datetime - Oracle to SQL Server

Migration
In Oracle, TRUNC(datetime, unit) function allows you to truncate a datetime value to the specified unit
(set zero time, set the first day of the month i.e).

In SQL Server, you can use various expressions using CONVERT function to get the same result.

Oracle:

ALTER SESSION SET NLS_DATE_FORMAT = 'YYYY-MM-DD HH24:MI:SS';

-- Get current datetime with the time set to zero

SELECT TRUNC(SYSDATE) FROM dual;
# 2013-02-11 00:00:00

SQL Server:

-- Get current datetime with the time set to zero

SELECT CONVERT(DATETIME, CONVERT(DATE, GETDATE()));
# 2013-02-11 00:00:00.000

TRUNC Conversion Overview

Oracle TRUNC for datetime to SQL Server conversion:

Oracle SQL Server

Syntax TRUNC(datetime [, unit]) CONVERT expressions depending on unit

Default Unit 'DD' truncates to day (sets zero time)

TRUNC function supports the following truncation units:

Oracle TRUNC Unit Truncation Result

'DD' 'DDD' Day YYYY-MM-DD 00:00:00

'MM' 'MONTH' Month YYYY-MM-01 00:00:00

'YY' 'YEAR' Year YYYY-01-01 00:00:00

'HH' 'HH24' Hour YYYY-MM-DD HH:00:00

'MI' Minute YYYY-MM-DD HH:MI:00

Conversion summary:

Oracle SQL Server

CONVERT(DATETIME, CONVERT(DATE, exp)) Since SQL Server 2008

TRUNC(exp [,'DD'])
CONVERT(DATETIME, CONVERT(VARCHAR(10), GETDATE(), 120))

TRUNC(exp, 'MM') CONVERT(DATETIME, CONVERT(VARCHAR(7), exp, 120) + '-01')

TRUNC(exp, 'YY') CONVERT(DATETIME, CONVERT(VARCHAR(4), exp, 120) + '-01-01')

TRUNC(exp, 'HH24') CONVERT(DATETIME, CONVERT(VARCHAR(13), exp, 120) + ':00:00')

TRUNC(exp, 'MI') CONVERT(DATETIME, CONVERT(VARCHAR(16), exp, 120) + ':00')

Last Update: Oracle 11g R2 and Microsoft SQL Server 2012

Converting Oracle TRUNC to SQL Server

By default, Oracle TRUNC truncates a datetime to day (sets the zero time):

Oracle:

-- Get the current datetime with time set to zero

SELECT TRUNC(SYSDATE) FROM dual;
# 2013-02-11 00:00:00

SELECT TRUNC(SYSDATE, 'DD') FROM dual;

# 2013-02-11 00:00:00

In SQL Server, you can firstly convert a datetime to DATE that does not contain the time part, and
then convert it back to DATETIME or DATETIME2. The time part will be set to zero now:

SQL Server:
 -- Get the current datetime with time set to zero
SELECT CONVERT(DATETIME, CONVERT(DATE, GETDATE()));
# 2013-02-11 00:00:00.000

Note that DATE data type is available since SQL Server 2008

You can also convert a datetime to VARCHAR(10) to take the first 10 characters, use style 120 to get
the 'YYYY-MM-DD' format, and then convert back to DATETIME or DATETIME2. The time part will be
zero as well:

SQL Server:

-- Get the current datetime with time set to zero

SELECT CONVERT(DATETIME, CONVERT(VARCHAR(10), GETDATE(), 120));
# 2013-02-11 00:00:00.000

Truncate to Month
If you specify 'MM' or 'MONTH' unit in Oracle TRUNC, the datetime is truncated to month (day is set to
1, and time is set to 00:00:00):

Oracle:

-- Get the current year and month, day is set to 1 and time is set to zero
SELECT TRUNC(SYSDATE, 'MM') FROM dual;
# 2013-02-01 00:00:00

In SQL Server, you can convert a datetime to VARCHAR(7) using style 120 to get the YYYY-MM
format, then add '-01', and convert to DATETIME or DATETIME2:

SQL Server:

-- Get the current year and month, day is set to 1 and time is set to zero
SELECT CONVERT(DATETIME, CONVERT(VARCHAR(7), GETDATE(), 120) + '-01');
# 2013-02-01 00:00:00.000

Truncate to Year
If you specify 'YY' or 'YEAR' unit in Oracle TRUNC, the datetime is truncated to year (month and day
are set to 1, and time is set to 00:00:00):

Oracle:

-- Get the first day of the current year

SELECT TRUNC(SYSDATE, 'YY') FROM dual;
# 2013-01-01 00:00:00
In SQL Server, you can convert a datetime to VARCHAR(4) using style 120 to get the year, then add '-
01-01', and convert to DATETIME or DATETIME2:

SQL Server:

-- Get the first day of the current year

SELECT CONVERT(DATETIME, CONVERT(VARCHAR(4), GETDATE(), 120) + '-01-01');
# 2013-01-01 00:00:00.000

You can also use YEAR or DATEPART function to get the year, convert it to string, add '-01-01' and
then convert to DATETIME or DATETIME2:

SQL Server:

-- Get the first day of the current year

SELECT CONVERT(DATETIME, CAST(YEAR(GETDATE()) AS VARCHAR) + '-01-01')
# 2013-01-01 00:00:00.000

SELECT CONVERT(DATETIME, CAST(DATEPART(yy, GETDATE()) AS VARCHAR) + '-01-01')

# 2013-01-01 00:00:00.000

Truncate to Hour
If you specify 'HH24' or 'HH' unit in Oracle TRUNC, the datetime is truncated to hour (minutes and
seconds are set to 00:00):

Oracle:

-- Get the current datetime with the hour accuracy

SELECT TRUNC(SYSDATE, 'HH24') FROM dual;
# 2013-02-11 13:00:00

In SQL Server, you can convert a datetime to VARCHAR(13) using style 120 to get the 'YYYY-MM-DD
HH24' format, add ':00:00', and convert to DATETIME or DATETIME2:

SQL Server:

-- Get the current datetime with the hour accuracy

SELECT CONVERT(DATETIME, CONVERT(VARCHAR(13), GETDATE(), 120) + ':00:00');
# 2013-02-11 13:00:00.000

Truncate to Minute
If you specify 'MI' unit in Oracle TRUNC, the datetime is truncated to minute (seconds are set to zero):

Oracle:
 -- Get the current datetime with the minute accuracy
SELECT TRUNC(SYSDATE, 'MI') FROM dual;
# 2013-02-11 13:49:00

In SQL Server, you can convert a datetime to VARCHAR(16) using style 120 to get the 'YYYY-MM-DD
HH24:MI' format, add ':00', and convert to DATETIME or DATETIME2:

SQL Server:

-- Get the current datetime with the minute accuracy

SELECT CONVERT(DATETIME, CONVERT(VARCHAR(16), GETDATE(), 120) + ':00');
# 2013-02-11 13:49:00.000