Setting NLS_DATE_FORMAT mask

Hello, all -

I'd like to be able to set the NLS_DATE_FORMAT parameter in init.ora to a value which allows specification of dates in the following manner:

    insert into foo (dummy_date) values ('19950831')

Inserting "NLS_DATE_FORMAT = 'YYYYMMDD'" in init.ora (minus the double quotes, of course) only partially works. The return values (from a SELECT statement) work OK, but the insert statement above returns an error saying that the year must be between -4716 and +4716.

I know I can use the TO_DATE function, but I'd prefer to avoid that, since the application I'm using has already been written, debugged, and tested on other databases that don't require the TO_DATE function.

This is Oracle 7.0.16 running on OSF/1 2.0.

Thanks in advance for any assitance.

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David D. Miller       | " Oh, I get it.
ddmiller_at_io.com       |   You're a plant, right?"
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