In this Oracle tutorial, examples are given to how to convert a string to date in Oracle using TO_Date function. Also, providing TO_DATE format specifier details for more understanding.
Description
TO_DATE converts char of CHAR, VARCHAR2, NCHAR, or NVARCHAR2 datatype to a value of DATE datatype.
Syntax
TO_DATE (char, format, [nlsparam])
Oracle TO_DATE Format Specifiers
| Format Model | Description |
|---|---|
| CC, SCC | Century (S prefixes BC dates with a minus sign) |
| YYYY, SYYYY | Year (S prefixes BC dates with a minus sign) |
| IYYY | Year based on ISO standard |
| YYY, YY, Y | Last three, two or one digits of the year |
| IYY, IY, I | Last three, two or one digits of the ISO year |
| Y,YYY | (Four Y's with comma) put a comma in the year (1,995) |
| YEAR, SYEAR | Year spelled out (S prefixes BC dates with a minus sign) |
| RR | Last two digits of year in another century (allows for year 2000) |
| BC, AD | BC or AD indicator |
| B.C., A.D. | BC or AD indicators with periods |
| Q | Numeric quarter of the year (1-4 with Jan-Mar=1) |
| MM | 2 number month (Jan = 01) |
| RM | Roman numeral month |
| MONTH | Name of month spelled out (upper case - month is upper case) |
| MON | abbreviated name of month (upper case - month is upper case) |
| WW | Week of the year (1-53) |
| IW | Week of the year (1-52, 1-53) based on ISO standard |
| W | Week of month (1-5) |
| DDD | day of year (1-366) (Don't forget leap years) |
| DD | day of month (1-31) |
| D | day of week (1-7) |
| DAY | Name of day (upper case, day is upper case) |
| DY | Abbreviated name of day |
| J | Julian day (Number of days since January 1, 4712 BC) |
| AM,PM | Meridian indicator |
| A.M., P.M. | Meridian indicator with periods. |
| HH, HH12 | Hour of day (0-12) |
| HH24 | Use 24 hour clock for hours (1-24) |
| MI | Minute (0-59) |
| SS | Second (0-60) |
| SSSSS | (five S's) seconds past midnight. (0-86399) |
| None | Date must be in the format 'DD-MON-YY'; |
Oracle TO_DATE Function Examples
1. Example to convert a string containing YYYYMMDD format into Date data type.
SELECT TO_DATE ('20180515', 'YYYYMMDD') FROM DUAL;Output
Note: String format should match with the format you are specifying to convert, else it will give the error.
15/05/2018
2. Convert a long string containing date-time information into a date-time data type.
SELECT TO_DATE( 'May 15, 2018, 11:00 A.M.', 'Month dd, YYYY, HH:MI A.M.', 'NLS_DATE_LANGUAGE = American') FROM DUAL;
Output
15/05/2018 11:00:00
3. Convert a string to a date using the Spanish language.
SELECT TO_DATE ('Abril 12 2018',
'Month DD YYYY',
'NLS_DATE_LANGUAGE=Spanish')
FROM DUAL;Output
12/04/2018
