title: Using Oracle Zero Date
body: <p>I have an application with existing data, that has Zero in the date column.</p>
  
  <p>When I look at it from sqlplus I see:
  00-DECEMB</p>
  
  <p>when I use the dump function on this column, I Get:
  Typ=12 Len=7: 100,100,0,0,1,1,1</p>
  
  <p>I need to work with the existing data from .Net (no changes to the data,or the data structure or even existing sql statements) </p>
  
  <p>How the hack do I read this value, or write it.</p>
  
  <p>The db version varies, from 8 to 11.</p>
  
  <p>Help would be appreciated</p>