Oracle / PLSQL: TO_DATE Function

This Oracle tutorial explains how to use the Oracle/PLSQL TO_DATE function with syntax and examples.

Description

The Oracle/PLSQL TO_DATE function converts a string to a date.

Syntax

The syntax for the TO_DATE function in Oracle/PLSQL is:

TO_DATE( string1 [, format_mask] [, nls_language] )

Parameters or Arguments

string1

The string that will be converted to a date.

format_mask

Optional. This is the format that will be used to convert string1 to a date. It can be one or a combination of the following values:

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
RRRR	Accepts a 2-digit year and returns a 4-digit year. A value between 0-49 will return a 20xx year. A value between 50-99 will return a 19xx year.
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).
AM, A.M., PM, or P.M.	Meridian indicator
AD or A.D	AD indicator
BC or B.C.	BC indicator
TZD	Daylight savings information. For example, 'PST'
TZH	Time zone hour.
TZM	Time zone minute.
TZR	Time zone region.

nls_language

Optional. This is the nls language used to convert string1 to a date.

Returns

The TO_DATE function returns a date value.

Applies To

The TO_DATE function can be used in the following versions of Oracle/PLSQL:

• Oracle 12c, Oracle 11g, Oracle 10g, Oracle 9i, Oracle 8i

Example

Let's look at some Oracle TO_DATE function examples and explore how to use the TO_DATE function in Oracle/PLSQL.

For example:

TO_DATE('2003/07/09', 'yyyy/mm/dd')
Output: date value of July 9, 2003

TO_DATE('070903', 'MMDDYY')
Output: date value of July 9, 2003

TO_DATE('20020315', 'yyyymmdd')
Output: date value of Mar 15, 2002

You could use the TO_DATE function with the dual table as follows: