9.8. Data Type Formatting Functions

FM suppresses leading zeroes and trailing blanks that would otherwise be added to make the output of a pattern be fixed-width. In PostgreSQL , FM modifies only the next specification, while in Oracle FM affects all subsequent specifications, and repeated FM modifiers toggle fill mode on and off.

TM does not include trailing blanks. to_timestamp and to_date ignore the TM modifier.

to_timestamp and to_date skip multiple blank spaces at the beginning of the input string and around date and time values unless the FX option is used. For example, to_timestamp(' 2000 JUN', 'YYYY MON') and to_timestamp('2000 - JUN', 'YYYY-MON') work, but to_timestamp('2000 JUN', 'FXYYYY MON') returns an error because to_timestamp expects only a single space. FX must be specified as the first item in the template.

A separator (a space or non-letter/non-digit character) in the template string of to_timestamp and to_date matches any single separator in the input string or is skipped, unless the FX option is used. For example, to_timestamp('2000JUN', 'YYYY///MON') and to_timestamp('2000/JUN', 'YYYY MON') work, but to_timestamp('2000//JUN', 'YYYY/MON') returns an error because the number of separators in the input string exceeds the number of separators in the template.

If FX is specified, a separator in the template string matches exactly one character in the input string. But note that the input string character is not required to be the same as the separator from the template string. For example, to_timestamp('2000/JUN', 'FXYYYY MON') works, but to_timestamp('2000/JUN', 'FXYYYY MON') returns an error because the second space in the template string consumes the letter J from the input string.

A TZH template pattern can match a signed number. Without the FX option, minus signs may be ambiguous, and could be interpreted as a separator. This ambiguity is resolved as follows: If the number of separators before TZH in the template string is less than the number of separators before the minus sign in the input string, the minus sign is interpreted as part of TZH . Otherwise, the minus sign is considered to be a separator between values. For example, to_timestamp('2000 -10', 'YYYY TZH') matches -10 to TZH , but to_timestamp('2000 -10', 'YYYY TZH') matches 10 to TZH .

Ordinary text is allowed in to_char templates and will be output literally. You can put a substring in double quotes to force it to be interpreted as literal text even if it contains template patterns. For example, in '"Hello Year "YYYY' , the YYYY will be replaced by the year data, but the single Y in Year will not be. In to_date , to_number , and to_timestamp , literal text and double-quoted strings result in skipping the number of characters contained in the string; for example "XX" skips two input characters (whether or not they are XX ).

If you want to have a double quote in the output you must precede it with a backslash, for example '\"YYYY Month\"' . Backslashes are not otherwise special outside of double-quoted strings. Within a double-quoted string, a backslash causes the next character to be taken literally, whatever it is (but this has no special effect unless the next character is a double quote or another backslash).

In to_timestamp and to_date , if the year format specification is less than four digits, e.g. YYY , and the supplied year is less than four digits, the year will be adjusted to be nearest to the year 2020, e.g. 95 becomes 1995.

In to_timestamp and to_date , the YYYY conversion has a restriction when processing years with more than 4 digits. You must use some non-digit character or template after YYYY , otherwise the year is always interpreted as 4 digits. For example (with the year 20000): to_date('200001131', 'YYYYMMDD') will be interpreted as a 4-digit year; instead use a non-digit separator after the year, like to_date('20000-1131', 'YYYY-MMDD') or to_date('20000Nov31', 'YYYYMonDD') .

In to_timestamp and to_date , the CC (century) field is accepted but ignored if there is a YYY , YYYY or Y,YYY field. If CC is used with YY or Y then the result is computed as that year in the specified century. If the century is specified but the year is not, the first year of the century is assumed.

In to_timestamp and to_date , weekday names or numbers ( DAY , D , and related field types) are accepted but are ignored for purposes of computing the result. The same is true for quarter ( Q ) fields.

In to_timestamp and to_date , an ISO 8601 week-numbering date (as distinct from a Gregorian date) can be specified in one of two ways:

Attempting to enter a date using a mixture of ISO 8601 week-numbering fields and Gregorian date fields is nonsensical, and will cause an error. In the context of an ISO 8601 week-numbering year, the concept of a " month " or " day of month " has no meaning. In the context of a Gregorian year, the ISO week has no meaning.

In to_timestamp , millisecond ( MS ) or microsecond ( US ) fields are used as the seconds digits after the decimal point. For example to_timestamp('12.3', 'SS.MS') is not 3 milliseconds, but 300, because the conversion treats it as 12 + 0.3 seconds. So, for the format SS.MS , the input values 12.3 , 12.30 , and 12.300 specify the same number of milliseconds. To get three milliseconds, one must write 12.003 , which the conversion treats as 12 + 0.003 = 12.003 seconds.

Here is a more complex example: to_timestamp('15:12:02.020.001230', 'HH24:MI:SS.MS.US') is 15 hours, 12 minutes, and 2 seconds + 20 milliseconds + 1230 microseconds = 2.021230 seconds.

to_char(..., 'ID') 's day of the week numbering matches the extract(isodow from ...) function, but to_char(..., 'D') 's does not match extract(dow from ...) 's day numbering.

to_char(interval) formats HH and HH12 as shown on a 12-hour clock, for example zero hours and 36 hours both output as 12 , while HH24 outputs the full hour value, which can exceed 23 in an interval value.

0 specifies a digit position that will always be printed, even if it contains a leading/trailing zero. 9 also specifies a digit position, but if it is a leading zero then it will be replaced by a space, while if it is a trailing zero and fill mode is specified then it will be deleted. (For to_number() , these two pattern characters are equivalent.)

The pattern characters S , L , D , and G represent the sign, currency symbol, decimal point, and thousands separator characters defined by the current locale (see lc_monetary and lc_numeric ). The pattern characters period and comma represent those exact characters, with the meanings of decimal point and thousands separator, regardless of locale.

If no explicit provision is made for a sign in to_char() 's pattern, one column will be reserved for the sign, and it will be anchored to (appear just left of) the number. If S appears just left of some 9 's, it will likewise be anchored to the number.

A sign formatted using SG , PL , or MI is not anchored to the number; for example, to_char(-12, 'MI9999') produces '- 12' but to_char(-12, 'S9999') produces ' -12' . (The Oracle implementation does not allow the use of MI before 9 , but rather requires that 9 precede MI .)

TH does not convert values less than zero and does not convert fractional numbers.

PL , SG , and TH are PostgreSQL extensions.

In to_number , if non-data template patterns such as L or TH are used, the corresponding number of input characters are skipped, whether or not they match the template pattern, unless they are data characters (that is, digits, sign, decimal point, or comma). For example, TH would skip two non-data characters.

V with to_char multiplies the input values by 10^ n , where n is the number of digits following V . V with to_number divides in a similar manner. to_char and to_number do not support the use of V combined with a decimal point (e.g., 99.9V99 is not allowed).

EEEE (scientific notation) cannot be used in combination with any of the other formatting patterns or modifiers other than digit and decimal point patterns, and must be at the end of the format string (e.g., 9.99EEEE is a valid pattern).