delimiter for user inputs

I am trying to let the user enter a value which is a DATE type

Update anytable
set StartDate = &UserInputDateValue ;

( StartDate is col in the table of type DATE )

everything is OK if the USER inputs ---> '23-MAR-01'

but how could I code it to have the user just type in ------> 23-MAR-01

WITHOUT having to type in the single quotes around the date value

thanks Received on Mon Aug 27 2001 - 21:32:26 CEST