New user needs help with dates in a table

I'm new to databases and Informix. Could someone please tell me the correct format for inserting a date into a table. I want to put the date and time (03/01/1997 13:10:24) into a table. What should the data type be, and how should the table declaration look? If I was to import the date(s) from a file, what should the file look like? Thanks in advance for helping a newbie. -- ____________________________________________________________ \\ \\_\\_\\_\\_ \\_\\_\\_\\_\\_ \\_\\_\\_\\_ \\ Charlie Davies \\ \\ \\_ \\_ \\_ \\_ \\_ \\ Webmaster \\ \\ \\_ \\_ \\_ \\_ \\ Harris Corp. - GASD \\ \\ \\_ \\_\\_\\_ \\_ \\_ \\ P.O. Box 94000 \\ \\ \\_ \\_ \\_ \\_ \\ MS 102-4832 \\ \\ \\_ \\_ \\_ \\_ \\_ \\ Melbourne, Fl 32902 \\ \\ \\_\\_\\_\\_ \\_\\_\\_\\_\\_ \\_\\_\\_\\_ \\ Location: 102-3523 \\ \\ \\ Voice: 407-727-6235 \\ \\ mailto:cdavies@harris.com \\ Pager: 407-690-8518 \\ \\ \\ FAX: 407-729-3212 \\ \\ http://gasd.ess.harris.com/~cdavies \\ \\ \\___________________________________________________________\\ Computer: a million morons working at the speed of light. Bus error (Passengers dumped)