EXTRACT (datetime)

Syntax

extract_datetime::=

Description of the illustration extract_datetime.gif

Purpose

EXTRACT extracts and returns the value of a specified datetime field from a datetime or interval expression. The expr can be any expression that evaluates to a datetime or interval datatype compatible with the requested field:

If YEAR or MONTH is requested, then expr must evaluate to an expression of datatype DATE, TIMESTAMP, TIMESTAMP WITH TIME ZONE, TIMESTAMP WITH LOCAL TIME ZONE, or INTERVAL YEAR TO MONTH.
If DAY is requested, then expr must evaluate to an expression of datatype DATE, TIMESTAMP, TIMESTAMP WITH TIME ZONE, TIMESTAMP WITH LOCAL TIME ZONE, or INTERVAL DAY TO SECOND.
If HOUR, MINUTE, or SECOND is requested, then expr must evaluate to an expression of datatype TIMESTAMP, TIMESTAMP WITH TIME ZONE, TIMESTAMP WITH LOCAL TIME ZONE, or INTERVAL DAY TO SECOND. DATE is not valid here, because Oracle Database treats it as ANSI DATE datatype, which has no time fields.
If TIMEZONE_HOUR, TIMEZONE_MINUTE, TIMEZONE_ABBR, TIMEZONE_REGION, or TIMEZONE_OFFSET is requested, then expr must evaluate to an expression of datatype TIMESTAMP WITH TIME ZONE or TIMESTAMP WITH LOCAL TIME ZONE.

EXTRACT interprets expr as an ANSI datetime datatype. For example, EXTRACT treats DATE not as legacy Oracle DATE but as ANSI DATE, without time elements. Therefore, you can extract only YEAR, MONTH, and DAY from a DATE value. Likewise, you can extract TIMEZONE_HOUR and TIMEZONE_MINUTE only from the TIMESTAMP WITH TIME ZONE datatype.

When you extract a TIMEZONE_REGION or TIMEZONE_ABBR (abbreviation), the value returned is a string containing the appropriate time zone name or abbreviation. When you extract any of the other values, the value returned is an integer representing the datetime value in the Gregorian calendar. When extracting from a datetime with a time zone value, the value returned is in UTC. For a listing of time zone names and their corresponding abbreviations, query the V$TIMEZONE_NAMES dynamic performance view.

This function can be very useful for manipulating datetime field values in very large tables, as shown in the first example below.

Note:

Timezone region names are needed by the daylight saving feature. The region names are stored in two time zone files. The default time zone file is a small file containing only the most common time zones to maximize performance. If your time zone is not in the default file, then you will not have daylight saving support until you provide a path to the complete (larger) file by way of the ORA_TZFILE environment variable.

Some combinations of datetime field and datetime or interval value expression result in ambiguity. In these cases, Oracle Database returns UNKNOWN (see the examples that follow for additional information).

See Also:

Oracle Database Globalization Support Guide. for a complete listing of the timezone region names in both files
"Datetime/Interval Arithmetic" for a description of datetime_value_expr and interval_value_expr
Oracle Database Reference for information on the dynamic performance views

Examples

The following example returns from the oe.orders table the number of orders placed in each month:

SELECT EXTRACT(month FROM order_date) "Month",
  COUNT(order_date) "No. of Orders"
  FROM orders
  GROUP BY EXTRACT(month FROM order_date)
  ORDER BY "No. of Orders" DESC;

     Month No. of Orders
---------- -------------
        11            15
         7            14
         6            14
         3            11
         5            10
         9             9
         2             9
         8             7
        10             6
         1             5
        12             4
         4             1
 
12 rows selected.

The following example returns the year 1998.

SELECT EXTRACT(YEAR FROM DATE '1998-03-07') FROM DUAL;

EXTRACT(YEARFROMDATE'1998-03-07')
---------------------------------
                             1998

The following example selects from the sample table hr.employees all employees who were hired after 1998:

SELECT last_name, employee_id, hire_date
   FROM employees
   WHERE EXTRACT(YEAR FROM
   TO_DATE(hire_date, 'DD-MON-RR')) > 1998
   ORDER BY hire_date;

LAST_NAME                 EMPLOYEE_ID HIRE_DATE
------------------------- ----------- ---------
Landry                            127 14-JAN-99
Lorentz                           107 07-FEB-99
Cabrio                            187 07-FEB-99
. . .

The following example results in ambiguity, so Oracle returns UNKNOWN:

SELECT EXTRACT(TIMEZONE_REGION 
      FROM TIMESTAMP '1999-01-01 10:00:00 -08:00')
   FROM DUAL;

EXTRACT(TIMEZONE_REGIONFROMTIMESTAMP'1999-01-0110:00:00-08:00')
----------------------------------------------------------------
UNKNOWN

The ambiguity arises because the time zone numerical offset is provided in the expression, and that numerical offset may map to more than one time zone region.