sqloracle-databaseoracle12c

Converting timestamp to date format in Oracle 12c


I have a below date value stored in a column in a table. I wanted to get the result in dd/mm/yyyy format only.

15-JUL-18 22.04.11.587000000

I am using this format but seems not rendering the correct output. Could you please help what would be the correct SQL query please.

select to_char(to_date(order_date, 'dd-mon-yyyy hh:mi:ss'), 'dd/mm/yyyy') from Titan_order;

Error:

ORA-01849: hour must be between 1 and 12 01849. 00000 - "hour must be between 1 and 12" *Cause:
*Action:


Solution

  • If you have a DATE or a TIMESTAMP and want to format it then use TO_CHAR:

    SELECT TO_CHAR(order_date, 'dd/mm/yyyy')
    FROM   Titan_order;
    

    As for why your existing query does not work. NEVER use TO_DATE on a value that is already a DATE or a TIMESTAMP as TO_DATE takes a string as a first argument so your query would implicitly be:

    SELECT TO_CHAR(
             TO_DATE(
               TO_CHAR(
                 order_date,
                 (SELECT value FROM NLS_SESSION_PARAMETERS WHERE parameter = 'NLS_DATE_FORMAT')
               ),
               'dd-mon-yyyy hh:mi:ss'
             ),
             'dd/mm/yyyy'
           )
    FROM   Titan_order;
    

    As you have found, if the NLS_DATE_FORMAT session parameter does not match 'dd-mon-yyyy hh:mi:ss' (and hh is for a 12-hour clock not 24-hour clock, which is hh24) then your query will fail.

    To fix it, you would need to either :

    Removing TO_DATE is the simplest solution.