date format problem

Hello List:

Using 6.5.3 on SuSE 6.4.

Built a table with a date field as type 'datetime'.

I try to copy a text file to the table and get a 'bad date format'
Dates in the text file may be null, but are in the form 1997-12-15.
Have tried several of the date field types with the same result.
The copy executes properly if I redefine the date field to varchar.

Thanks for your help.
Bill Barnes

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