hi guys
thanks for all the response I have kinda got a solution i populate null date values with a defualt date and then when import is finished I run a piece of code that removes the default date later on in the process however this means it takes slightly longer.
but if anyone does have anymore ideas I am willing to try
althought I am begining to think there are just wierd loop holes about putting strings into the datetime fields defined in the final table
thank you all again