TO_DATE

TO_DATE converts a text expression to a DATE data type.

Return Value

DATE

Syntax

TO_DATE(char [, fmt [, 'nlsparam' ] ])

Arguments

char is a text expression that represents a date.

fmt is a datetime model format specifying the format of char. The default date format is determined implicitly by the NLS_TERRITORY initialization parameter or can be set explicitly by the NLS_DATE_FORMAT parameter. For data type formats, refer to the Oracle Database SQL Language Reference.

nlsparam specifies the language of char. This argument can have this form:

'NLS_DATE_LANGUAGE = language' 

By default, char is in the session date language.

Examples

TO_DATE('October 13, 2008', 'MONTH DD, YYYY') returns the value 13-OCT-08.

TO_DATE('13 Octubre 2008', 'dd month yyyy', 'NLS_DATE_LANGUAGE=SPANISH') also returns the value 13-OCT-08