Calc minutes between days

SQL Apprentice Question
I am using DATEDIFF('n',EndTime, StartTime) to return minutes between 2
datetime columns. The problem is that when the StartTime is 23:00:00 PM and
EndTime is 07:00:00 AM I get a negative # of minutes. How can get 480
minutes from this calculation. Note the 23:00:00 is yesterday and the
07:00:00 is today. Thanks


Celko Answers

>> OK, but I'm not storing the date portion so it thinks both dates are 12/30/1899. Do I need a CASE statement to check for 1st time 2nd time? <<


No, you need to learn to do it right and not look for kludges in
newsgroups. Oh, you will get the kludges, as you have seen, but then
your code will become a convoluted mess over time, queries cannot use
indexes, portability is destroyed, etc.

It would also help if you had learned to use ISO-8601 temporal
formats, too (i.e '1899-12-30'). That would have lead you to study
the ISO temporal model. A proper data model will use DATETIME data
types and model events as having durations. Get a free copy of Rick
Snodgrass book in PDF from the University of Arizona website and spent
a week with. There is also a ton of free code you can download.