TO_TIMESTAMP

Syntax

to_timestamp::=

Text description of to_timestamp

Purpose

TO_TIMESTAMP converts char of CHAR, VARCHAR2, NCHAR, or NVARCHAR2 datatype to a value of TIMESTAMP datatype.

The optional fmt specifies the format of char. If you omit fmt, char must be in the default format of the TIMESTAMP datatype. The optional nlsparam has the same purpose in this function as in the TO_CHAR function for date conversion.

Note: This function does not support CLOB data directly. However, CLOBs can be passed in as arguments through implicit data conversion. Please refer to "Datatype Comparison Rules" for more information.

Example

The following example converts a character string to a timestamp:

SELECT TO_TIMESTAMP ('1999-12-01 11:00:00', 'YYYY-MM-DD HH:MI:SS')
   FROM DUAL;

TO_TIMESTAMP('1999-12-0111:00:00','YYYY-MM-DDHH:MI:SS')
-----------------------------------------------------------
01-DEC-99 11.00.00.000000000 AM