Oracle/PLSQL: To_Date Function
In Oracle/PLSQL, the to_date function converts a string to a date.
The syntax for the to_date function is:
to_date( string1, [ format_mask ], [ nls_language ] )
string1 is the string that will be converted to a date.
format_mask is optional. This is the format that will be used to convert string1 to a date.
nls_language is optional. This is the nls language used to convert string1 to a date.
The following is a list of options for the format_mask parameter. These parameters can be used in many combinations.
| 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. |
For example:
| to_date('2003/07/09', 'yyyy/mm/dd') |
would return a date value of July 9, 2003. |
| to_date('070903', 'MMDDYY') |
would return a date value of July 9, 2003. |
| to_date('20020315', 'yyyymmdd') |
would return a date value of Mar 15, 2002. |