check date variable not between 2 dates in database

[dragon_sa]

I need to run a mysql query to check if an input date variable formatted to yyyy-mm-dd is not between a startDATE and finishDATE which are columns in a table, some of which have the value NULL. NULL values can be returned but dates equal to or between the 2 column dates cannot.

 

Basically startDATE and finishDATE are column headings for staff holiday dates, and a user query is checking for all staff not on holiday on the input date, effectively listing the available staff on the input date. The NULL value in those columns mean a staff member has not booked any holidays.

 

Any help much appreciated

[jdavidbakr]

Are your column types "DATE"  or "DATETIME"?  If so, it's trivial

 

select * from table where date < '{$startDATE}' or date > '{$finishDATE}';

[Pikachu2000]

Or:

SELECT * FROM `table` WHERE `date` NOT BETWEEN '$startdate' AND '$enddate'

[dragon_sa]

they are date fields, and the date to check is a variable from an input form selected from a calandar, startDATE and finishDATE are the columns in the table and some could = NULL