Date Functions
Date functions are used to display information about dates and times. These functions manipulate datetime and smalldatetime values, performing arithmetic operations on them. Date functions can be used anywhere an expression can be used.
SQL Server recognizes a wide variety of datetime data entry formats. You can use the SET DATEFORMAT statement to set the order of the dateparts (month/day/year) for entering datetime or smalldatetime data. Enclose datetime or smalldatetime values in single quotation marks.