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DBCode

TO_CHAR

TO_CHAR(number|date, [fmt],[nlsparam])

Section titled “TO_CHAR(number|date, [fmt],[nlsparam])”
  • number|date: The value to be converted to a character data type. It can be a NUMBER or DATE data type.
  • fmt: An optional format model. A String that specifies how the number or date should be converted into a string. If fmt is NULL or a unique model format, then the value is converted to a VARCHAR2 data type.
  • nlsparam: An optional argument specifying the language in which month and day name replacements are to be performed. It has a VARCHAR2 data type and can have NLS_DATE_LANGUAGE or NLS_NUMERIC_CHARACTERS as parameters.

Example

Section titled “Example”
SELECT TO_CHAR(sysdate, 'MM-DD-YYYY') AS formatted_date
FROM dual;

Output

Section titled “Output”
FORMATTED_DATE
--------------
04-20-2023

Explanation

Section titled “Explanation”

The TO_CHAR function is used in the SQL statement to convert a date or number type into a string. ‘sysdate’ fetches the current system date, and ‘MM-DD-YYYY’ specifies the format in which the date is displayed. The function is used as part of the SELECT statement to get the formatted date from ‘dual’, a system dummy table in Oracle.