To_Char Function

In Oracle/PLSQL, the to_char function converts a number or date to a string.

The syntax for the to_char function is:

 

to_char (value, [format_mask], [nls_language] )

 

value can either be a number or date that will be converted to a string.

format_mask is optional.  This is the format that will be used to convert value to a string.

nls_language is optional.  This is the nls language used to convert value to a string.

 

Examples - Numbers
 

The following are number examples for the to_char function.

to_char (1210.73, '9999.9')	would return '1210.7'
to_char (1210.73, '9,999.99')	would return '1,210.73'
to_char (1210.73, '$9,999.00')	would return '$1,210.73'
to_char (21, '000099')	would return '000021'

 

Examples – Dates

 

The following is a list of valid parameters when the to_char function is used to convert a date to a string.  These parameters can be used in many combinations.

Parameter	Explanation
YEAR	Year, spelled out
YYYY	4-digit year
YYY YY Y	Last 3, 2, or 1 digit(s) of year.
IYY IY I	Last 3, 2, or 1 digit(s) of ISO year.
IYYY	4-digit year based on the ISO standard
Q	Quarter of year (1, 2, 3, 4; JAN-MAR = 1).
MM	Month (01-12; JAN = 01).
MON	Abbreviated name of month.
MONTH	Name of month, padded with blanks to length of 9 characters.
RM	Roman numeral month (I-XII; JAN = I).
WW	Week of year (1-53) where week 1 starts on the first day of the year and continues to the seventh day of the year.
W	Week of month (1-5) where week 1 starts on the first day of the month and ends on the seventh.
IW	Week of year (1-52 or 1-53) based on the ISO standard.
D	Day of week (1-7).
DAY	Name of day.
DD	Day of month (1-31).
DDD	Day of year (1-366).
DY	Abbreviated name of day.
J	Julian day; the number of days since January 1, 4712 BC.
HH	Hour of day (1-12).
HH12	Hour of day (1-12).
HH24	Hour of day (0-23).
MI	Minute (0-59).
SS	Second (0-59).
SSSSS	Seconds past midnight (0-86399).
FF	Fractional seconds.

 

The following are date examples for the to_char function.

 

to_char (sysdate, 'yyyy/mm/dd');	would return '2003/07/09'
to_char (sysdate, 'Month DD, YYYY');	would return 'July 09, 2003'
to_char (sysdate, 'FMMonth DD, YYYY');	would return 'July 9, 2003'
to_char (sysdate, 'MON DDth, YYYY');	would return 'JUL 09TH, 2003'
to_char (sysdate, 'FMMON DDth, YYYY');	would return 'JUL 9TH, 2003'
to_char (sysdate, 'FMMon ddth, YYYY');	would return 'Jul 9th, 2003'

 

You will notice that in some examples, the format_mask parameter begins with "FM".  This means that zeros and blanks are suppressed.  This can be seen in the examples below.

 

to_char (sysdate, 'FMMonth DD, YYYY');	would return 'July 9, 2003'
to_char (sysdate, 'FMMON DDth, YYYY');	would return 'JUL 9TH, 2003'
to_char (sysdate, 'FMMon ddth, YYYY');	would return 'Jul 9th, 2003'

 

The zeros have been suppressed so that the day component shows as "9" as opposed to "09".