How to use tochar in oracle

Oracle TO_CHAR function converts a number, date, or time value to a string. The format string specifies the output format, including date, time, and number format elements. Common date format elements include "%Y" (year) and "%m" (month), and number format elements include "9" (number) and "." (decimal point). For example: Convert date to "YYYY-MM-DD": SELECT TO_CHAR(sysdate, 'YYYY-MM-DD') FROM dual;

# #Usage of TO_CHAR function in Oracle

TO_CHAR function is a built-in function used to convert a number, date, or time value to a string.

Syntax

<code>TO_CHAR(expression, format_string)</code>

Parameters

• expression: The value to be converted.
• format_string: A format string that specifies how to format the output string.

Format string

Format string specifies how to format the output string. It can contain the following elements:

• Literal characters: Output as is.
• Format specifier: Specifies the format of a date, time, or number.
• Date and time format elements: Specify the specific format of date and time.

Common date and time format elements

• %Y: Year (one to four numbers)
• %m: month (one or two digits)
• %d: day (one or two digits)
• %H: Hours (24-hour format, one or two digits)
• %M: Minutes (two digits)
• %S: Seconds (two digits)

Number format elements

• 9: Numeric Digit
• 0: Fill with zeros if missing digit
• .: Decimal point
• ,:Thousand separator

Example

The following example converts a date to a string in the format "YYYY-MM-DD":

SELECT TO_CHAR(sysdate, 'YYYY-MM-DD') FROM dual;

The following example converts a number to a string in the format "999,999.99":

SELECT TO_CHAR(1234567.89, '999,999.99') FROM dual;

Note

Formatting strings must use single quotes bracketed.
• If the format string contains single quotes, they must be escaped with two single quotes.
• TO_CHAR function returns a string, so it is usually used with the string concatenation operator (||).

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