TO_CHAR (datetime)

Syntax

to_char_date::=

Text description of to_char_date

Purpose

TO_CHAR converts date of DATE, TIMESTAMP, TIMESTAMP WITH TIME ZONE, or TIMESTAMP WITH LOCAL TIME ZONE datatype to a value of VARCHAR2 datatype in the format specified by the date format fmt. If you omit fmt, date is converted to a VARCHAR2 value as follows:

• DATE is converted to a value in the default date format.

• TIMESTAMP and TIMESTAMP WITH LOCAL TIME ZONE are converted to values in the default timestamp format.

• TIMESTAMP WITH TIME ZONE is converted to a value in the default timestamp with time zone format.

The 'nlsparams' specifies the language in which month and day names and abbreviations are returned. This argument can have this form:

'NLS_DATE_LANGUAGE = language' 

If you omit nlsparams, this function uses the default date language for your session.

See Also: "Format Models" for information on date formats

Example

The following example uses this table:

CREATE TABLE my_tab (
   ts_col TIMESTAMP,
   tsltz_col TIMESTAMP WITH LOCAL TIME ZONE,
   tstz_col TIMESTAMP WITH TIME ZONE);

The example shows the results of applying TO_CHAR to different TIMESTAMP datatypes. The result for a TIMESTAMP WITH LOCAL TIME ZONE column is sensitive to session time zone, whereas the results for the TIMESTAMP and TIMESTAMP WITH TIME ZONE columns are not sensitive to session time zone:

ALTER SESSION SET TIME_ZONE = '-8:00';
INSERT INTO my_tab VALUES (  
   TIMESTAMP'1999-12-01 10:00:00',
   TIMESTAMP'1999-12-01 10:00:00',
   TIMESTAMP'1999-12-01 10:00:00');
INSERT INTO my_tab VALUES (
   TIMESTAMP'1999-12-02 10:00:00 -8:00', 
   TIMESTAMP'1999-12-02 10:00:00 -8:00',
   TIMESTAMP'1999-12-02 10:00:00 -8:00');

SELECT TO_CHAR(ts_col, 'DD-MON-YYYY HH24:MI:SSxFF'),
   TO_CHAR(tstz_col, 'DD-MON-YYYY HH24:MI:SSxFF TZH:TZM')
   FROM my_tab;

TO_CHAR(TS_COL,'DD-MON-YYYYHH2 TO_CHAR(TSTZ_COL,'DD-MON-YYYYHH24:MI:
------------------------------ -------------------------------------
01-DEC-1999 10:00:00           01-DEC-1999 10:00:00.000000 -08:00
02-DEC-1999 10:00:00           02-DEC-1999 10:00:00.000000 -08:00

SELECT SESSIONTIMEZONE, 
   TO_CHAR(tsltz_col, 'DD-MON-YYYY HH24:MI:SSxFF')
   FROM my_tab;

SESSION TO_CHAR(TSLTZ_COL,'DD-MON-YYYY
------- ------------------------------
-08:00  01-DEC-1999 10:00:00
-08:00  02-DEC-1999 10:00:00

ALTER SESSION SET TIME_ZONE = '-5:00';
SELECT TO_CHAR(ts_col, 'DD-MON-YYYY HH24:MI:SSxFF'),
   TO_CHAR(tstz_col, 'DD-MON-YYYY HH24:MI:SSxFF TZH:TZM')
   FROM my_tab;

TO_CHAR(TS_COL,'DD-MON-YYYYHH2 TO_CHAR(TSTZ_COL,'DD-MON-YYYYHH24:MI:
------------------------------ -------------------------------------
01-DEC-1999 10:00:00           01-DEC-1999 10:00:00.000000 -08:00
02-DEC-1999 10:00:00           02-DEC-1999 10:00:00.000000 -08:00

SELECT SESSIONTIMEZONE,
   TO_CHAR(tsltz_col, 'DD-MON-YYYY HH24:MI:SSxFF') 
   FROM my_tab;

SESSION TO_CHAR(TSLTZ_COL,'DD-MON-YYYY
------- ------------------------------
-05:00  01-DEC-1999 13:00:00
-05:00  02-DEC-1999 13:00:00