Oracle TO_DATE Function – SQL Syntax Examples
The Oracle TO_DATE SQL function is used to convert a TEXT or NTEXT representation of a date into an Oracle DATETIME value.
Below shows the TO_DATE function along with the arguments it takes:
1 | to_date(string) |
1 | to_date(string, date_format) |
1 | to_date(string, date_format, options) |
The Oracle TO_DATE function returns a DATETIME representation of the string input using the date_format input.
Following are important rules to follow along with syntax exemplifying the implications of the rules.
- By default, strings following the formats of DD-MON-YYYY, DD-MON-YY, DD-MONTH-YYYY, DD-MONTH-YY can automatically be converted without the need for a
date_format.
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SELECT to_date('01-JAN-2009') FROM dual --returns: 01-JAN-09 SELECT to_date('01-JAN-09') FROM dual --returns: 01-JAN-09 SELECT to_date('01-JANUARY-2009') FROM dual --returns: 01-JAN-09 SELECT to_date('01-01-09') FROM dual ORA-01843: NOT a valid MONTH SELECT to_date('1-JANUARY-2009') FROM dual --returns: 01-JAN-09 SELECT to_date('0-JAN-2009') FROM dual --returns: ORA-01847: day of month must be between 1 and last day of month
- You want to ensure that your input
stringboth matches thedate_formatand is also a valid date.
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SELECT to_date('Thursday 01/01/2009','DAY MM/DD/YYYY') FROM dual --returns: 01-JAN-09 SELECT to_date('Monday 01/01/2009','DAY MM/DD/YYYY') FROM dual --returns: ORA-01835: day of week conflicts with Julian date
Sortable Table of Date Format Mask Options
Following is a sortable table of the most common date_formats that can be used when defining your date_format mask (to sort, click on a column heading):
| Parameter | Explanation |
|---|---|
| YEAR | Year, spelled out |
| YYYY | 4-digit year |
| YYY YY Y |
Last 3, 2, or 1 digit(s) of year. |
| IYY IY I |
Last 3, 2, or 1 digit(s) of ISO year. |
| IYYY | 4-digit year based on the ISO standard |
| RRRR | Accepts a 2-digit year and returns a 4-digit year. A value between 0-49 will return a 20xx year. A value between 50-99 will return a 19xx year. |
| Q | Quarter of year (1, 2, 3, 4; JAN-MAR = 1). |
| MM | Month (01-12; JAN = 01). |
| MON | Abbreviated name of month. |
| MONTH | Name of month, padded with blanks to length of 9 characters. |
| RM | Roman numeral month (I-XII; JAN = I). |
| WW | Week of year (1-53) where week 1 starts on the first day of the year and continues to the seventh day of the year. |
| W | Week of month (1-5) where week 1 starts on the first day of the month and ends on the seventh. |
| IW | Week of year (1-52 or 1-53) based on the ISO standard. |
| D | Day of week (1-7). |
| DAY | Name of day. |
| DD | Day of month (1-31). |
| DDD | Day of year (1-366). |
| DY | Abbreviated name of day. |
| J | Julian day; the number of days since January 1, 4712 BC. |
| HH | Hour of day (1-12). |
| HH12 | Hour of day (1-12). |
| HH24 | Hour of day (0-23). |
| MI | Minute (0-59). |
| SS | Second (0-59). |
| SSSSS | Seconds past midnight (0-86399). |
| FF | Fractional seconds. Use a value from 1 to 9 after FF to indicate the number of digits in the fractional seconds. For example, ‘FF4′. |
| AM, A.M., PM, or P.M. | Meridian indicator |
| AD or A.D | AD indicator |
| BC or B.C. | BC indicator |
| TZD | Daylight savings information. For example, ‘PST’ |
| TZH | Time zone hour. |
| TZM | Time zone minute. |
| TZR | Time zone region. |
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