TO_CHAR
TO_CHAR converts a timestamp or numeric expression to a character-string data format.
Syntax
TO_CHAR (timestamp_expression | numeric_expression , 'format')
Arguments
- timestamp_expression
-
An expression that results in a TIMESTAMP or TIMESTAMPTZ type value or a value that can implicitly be coerced to a timestamp.
- numeric_expression
-
An expression that results in a numeric data type value or a value that can implicitly be coerced to a numeric type. For more information, see Numeric types. TO_CHAR inserts a space to the left of the numeral string.
Note
TO_CHAR does not support 128-bit DECIMAL values.
- format
-
The format for the new value. For valid formats, see Datetime format strings and Numeric format strings.
Return type
VARCHAR
Examples
The following example converts a timestamp to a value with the date and time in a format with the name of the month padded to nine characters, the name of the day of the week, and the day number of the month.
select to_char(timestamp '2009-12-31 23:15:59', 'MONTH-DY-DD-YYYY HH12:MIPM');to_char ------------------------- DECEMBER -THU-31-2009 11:15PM
The following example converts a timestamp to a value with day number of the year.
select to_char(timestamp '2009-12-31 23:15:59', 'DDD');to_char ------------------------- 365
The following example converts a timestamp to an ISO day number of the week.
select to_char(timestamp '2022-05-16 23:15:59', 'ID');to_char ------------------------- 1
The following example extracts the month name from a date.
select to_char(date '2009-12-31', 'MONTH');to_char ------------------------- DECEMBER
The following example converts each STARTTIME value in the EVENT table to a string that consists of hours, minutes, and seconds.
select to_char(starttime, 'HH12:MI:SS') from event where eventid between 1 and 5 order by eventid;to_char ---------- 02:30:00 08:00:00 02:30:00 02:30:00 07:00:00
The following example converts an entire timestamp value into a different format.
select starttime, to_char(starttime, 'MON-DD-YYYY HH12:MIPM') from event where eventid=1;starttime | to_char ---------------------+--------------------- 2008-01-25 14:30:00 | JAN-25-2008 02:30PM
The following example converts a timestamp literal to a character string.
select to_char(timestamp '2009-12-31 23:15:59','HH24:MI:SS');to_char ---------- 23:15:59
The following example converts a decimal number to a character string.
select to_char(125.8, '999.99');to_char --------- 125.80
The following example converts a decimal number to a character string.
select to_char(125.8, '999D99');to_char --------- 125.80
The following example converts a number to a character string with a leading zero.
select to_char(125.8, '0999D99');to_char --------- 0125.80
The following example converts a number to a character string with the negative sign at the end.
select to_char(-125.8, '999D99S');to_char --------- 125.80-
The following example converts a number to a character string with the positive or negative sign at the specified position.
select to_char(125.8, '999D99SG');to_char --------- 125.80+
The following example converts a number to a character string with the positive sign at the specified position.
select to_char(125.8, 'PL999D99');to_char --------- + 125.80
The following example converts a number to a character string with the currency symbol.
select to_char(-125.88, '$S999D99');to_char --------- $-125.88
The following example converts a number to a character string with the currency symbol in the specified position.
select to_char(-125.88, 'S999D99L');to_char --------- -125.88$
The following example converts a number to a character string using a thousands (comma) separator.
select to_char(1125.8, '9,999.99');to_char --------- 1,125.80
The following example converts a number to a character string using angle brackets for negative numbers.
select to_char(-125.88, '$999D99PR');to_char --------- $<125.88>
The following example converts a number to a Roman numeral string.
select to_char(125, 'RN');to_char --------- CXXV
The following example converts a date to a century code.
select to_char(date '2020-12-31', 'CC');to_char --------- 21
The following example displays the day of the week.
SELECT to_char(current_timestamp, 'FMDay, FMDD HH12:MI:SS');to_char ----------------------- Wednesday, 31 09:34:26
The following example displays the ordinal number suffix for a number.
SELECT to_char(482, '999th');to_char ----------------------- 482nd
The following example subtracts the commission from the price paid in the sales table. The difference is then rounded up and converted to a roman numeral, shown in the to_char column:
select salesid, pricepaid, commission, (pricepaid - commission) as difference, to_char(pricepaid - commission, 'rn') from sales group by sales.pricepaid, sales.commission, salesid order by salesid limit 10;salesid | pricepaid | commission | difference | to_char ---------+-----------+------------+------------+----------------- 1 | 728.00 | 109.20 | 618.80 | dcxix 2 | 76.00 | 11.40 | 64.60 | lxv 3 | 350.00 | 52.50 | 297.50 | ccxcviii 4 | 175.00 | 26.25 | 148.75 | cxlix 5 | 154.00 | 23.10 | 130.90 | cxxxi 6 | 394.00 | 59.10 | 334.90 | cccxxxv 7 | 788.00 | 118.20 | 669.80 | dclxx 8 | 197.00 | 29.55 | 167.45 | clxvii 9 | 591.00 | 88.65 | 502.35 | dii 10 | 65.00 | 9.75 | 55.25 | lv
The following example adds the currency symbol to the difference values shown in the to_char column:
select salesid, pricepaid, commission, (pricepaid - commission) as difference, to_char(pricepaid - commission, 'l99999D99') from sales group by sales.pricepaid, sales.commission, salesid order by salesid limit 10;salesid | pricepaid | commission | difference | to_char --------+-----------+------------+------------+------------ 1 | 728.00 | 109.20 | 618.80 | $ 618.80 2 | 76.00 | 11.40 | 64.60 | $ 64.60 3 | 350.00 | 52.50 | 297.50 | $ 297.50 4 | 175.00 | 26.25 | 148.75 | $ 148.75 5 | 154.00 | 23.10 | 130.90 | $ 130.90 6 | 394.00 | 59.10 | 334.90 | $ 334.90 7 | 788.00 | 118.20 | 669.80 | $ 669.80 8 | 197.00 | 29.55 | 167.45 | $ 167.45 9 | 591.00 | 88.65 | 502.35 | $ 502.35 10 | 65.00 | 9.75 | 55.25 | $ 55.25
The following example lists the century in which each sale was made.
select salesid, saletime, to_char(saletime, 'cc') from sales order by salesid limit 10;salesid | saletime | to_char ---------+---------------------+--------- 1 | 2008-02-18 02:36:48 | 21 2 | 2008-06-06 05:00:16 | 21 3 | 2008-06-06 08:26:17 | 21 4 | 2008-06-09 08:38:52 | 21 5 | 2008-08-31 09:17:02 | 21 6 | 2008-07-16 11:59:24 | 21 7 | 2008-06-26 12:56:06 | 21 8 | 2008-07-10 02:12:36 | 21 9 | 2008-07-22 02:23:17 | 21 10 | 2008-08-06 02:51:55 | 21
The following example converts each STARTTIME value in the EVENT table to a string that consists of hours, minutes, seconds, and time zone.
select to_char(starttime, 'HH12:MI:SS TZ') from event where eventid between 1 and 5 order by eventid;to_char ---------- 02:30:00 UTC 08:00:00 UTC 02:30:00 UTC 02:30:00 UTC 07:00:00 UTC
The following example shows formatting for seconds, milliseconds, and microseconds.
select sysdate, to_char(sysdate, 'HH24:MI:SS') as seconds, to_char(sysdate, 'HH24:MI:SS.MS') as milliseconds, to_char(sysdate, 'HH24:MI:SS:US') as microseconds;timestamp | seconds | milliseconds | microseconds --------------------+----------+--------------+---------------- 2015-04-10 18:45:09 | 18:45:09 | 18:45:09.325 | 18:45:09:325143