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<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" standalone="no"?>
<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" /><title>9.8. Data Type Formatting Functions</title><link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="stylesheet.css" /><link rev="made" href="pgsql-docs@lists.postgresql.org" /><meta name="generator" content="DocBook XSL Stylesheets Vsnapshot" /><link rel="prev" href="functions-matching.html" title="9.7. Pattern Matching" /><link rel="next" href="functions-datetime.html" title="9.9. Date/Time Functions and Operators" /></head><body id="docContent" class="container-fluid col-10"><div class="navheader"><table width="100%" summary="Navigation header"><tr><th colspan="5" align="center">9.8. Data Type Formatting Functions</th></tr><tr><td width="10%" align="left"><a accesskey="p" href="functions-matching.html" title="9.7. Pattern Matching">Prev</a> </td><td width="10%" align="left"><a accesskey="u" href="functions.html" title="Chapter 9. Functions and Operators">Up</a></td><th width="60%" align="center">Chapter 9. Functions and Operators</th><td width="10%" align="right"><a accesskey="h" href="index.html" title="PostgreSQL 16.3 Documentation">Home</a></td><td width="10%" align="right"> <a accesskey="n" href="functions-datetime.html" title="9.9. Date/Time Functions and Operators">Next</a></td></tr></table><hr /></div><div class="sect1" id="FUNCTIONS-FORMATTING"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h2 class="title" style="clear: both">9.8. Data Type Formatting Functions <a href="#FUNCTIONS-FORMATTING" class="id_link">#</a></h2></div></div></div><a id="id-1.5.8.14.2" class="indexterm"></a><p>
    The <span class="productname">PostgreSQL</span> formatting functions
    provide a powerful set of tools for converting various data types
    (date/time, integer, floating point, numeric) to formatted strings
    and for converting from formatted strings to specific data types.
    <a class="xref" href="functions-formatting.html#FUNCTIONS-FORMATTING-TABLE" title="Table 9.26. Formatting Functions">Table 9.26</a> lists them.
    These functions all follow a common calling convention: the first
    argument is the value to be formatted and the second argument is a
    template that defines the output or input format.
   </p><div class="table" id="FUNCTIONS-FORMATTING-TABLE"><p class="title"><strong>Table 9.26. Formatting Functions</strong></p><div class="table-contents"><table class="table" summary="Formatting Functions" border="1"><colgroup><col /></colgroup><thead><tr><th class="func_table_entry"><p class="func_signature">
        Function
       </p>
       <p>
        Description
       </p>
       <p>
        Example(s)
       </p></th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td class="func_table_entry"><p class="func_signature">
        <a id="id-1.5.8.14.4.2.2.1.1.1.1" class="indexterm"></a>
        <code class="function">to_char</code> ( <code class="type">timestamp</code>, <code class="type">text</code> )
        → <code class="returnvalue">text</code>
       </p>
       <p class="func_signature">
        <code class="function">to_char</code> ( <code class="type">timestamp with time zone</code>, <code class="type">text</code> )
        → <code class="returnvalue">text</code>
       </p>
       <p>
        Converts time stamp to string according to the given format.
       </p>
       <p>
        <code class="literal">to_char(timestamp '2002-04-20 17:31:12.66', 'HH12:MI:SS')</code><code class="returnvalue">05:31:12</code>
       </p></td></tr><tr><td class="func_table_entry"><p class="func_signature">
        <code class="function">to_char</code> ( <code class="type">interval</code>, <code class="type">text</code> )
        → <code class="returnvalue">text</code>
       </p>
       <p>
        Converts interval to string according to the given format.
       </p>
       <p>
       <code class="literal">to_char(interval '15h 2m 12s', 'HH24:MI:SS')</code><code class="returnvalue">15:02:12</code>
       </p></td></tr><tr><td class="func_table_entry"><p class="func_signature">
        <code class="function">to_char</code> ( <em class="replaceable"><code>numeric_type</code></em>, <code class="type">text</code> )
        → <code class="returnvalue">text</code>
       </p>
       <p>
        Converts number to string according to the given format; available
        for <code class="type">integer</code>, <code class="type">bigint</code>, <code class="type">numeric</code>,
        <code class="type">real</code>, <code class="type">double precision</code>.
       </p>
       <p>
        <code class="literal">to_char(125, '999')</code><code class="returnvalue">125</code>
       </p>
       <p>
        <code class="literal">to_char(125.8::real, '999D9')</code><code class="returnvalue">125.8</code>
       </p>
       <p>
        <code class="literal">to_char(-125.8, '999D99S')</code><code class="returnvalue">125.80-</code>
       </p></td></tr><tr><td class="func_table_entry"><p class="func_signature">
        <a id="id-1.5.8.14.4.2.2.4.1.1.1" class="indexterm"></a>
        <code class="function">to_date</code> ( <code class="type">text</code>, <code class="type">text</code> )
        → <code class="returnvalue">date</code>
       </p>
       <p>
        Converts string to date according to the given format.
       </p>
       <p>
        <code class="literal">to_date('05 Dec 2000', 'DD Mon YYYY')</code><code class="returnvalue">2000-12-05</code>
       </p></td></tr><tr><td class="func_table_entry"><p class="func_signature">
        <a id="id-1.5.8.14.4.2.2.5.1.1.1" class="indexterm"></a>
        <code class="function">to_number</code> ( <code class="type">text</code>, <code class="type">text</code> )
        → <code class="returnvalue">numeric</code>
       </p>
       <p>
        Converts string to numeric according to the given format.
       </p>
       <p>
        <code class="literal">to_number('12,454.8-', '99G999D9S')</code><code class="returnvalue">-12454.8</code>
       </p></td></tr><tr><td class="func_table_entry"><p class="func_signature">
        <a id="id-1.5.8.14.4.2.2.6.1.1.1" class="indexterm"></a>
        <code class="function">to_timestamp</code> ( <code class="type">text</code>, <code class="type">text</code> )
        → <code class="returnvalue">timestamp with time zone</code>
       </p>
       <p>
        Converts string to time stamp according to the given format.
        (See also <code class="function">to_timestamp(double precision)</code> in
        <a class="xref" href="functions-datetime.html#FUNCTIONS-DATETIME-TABLE" title="Table 9.33. Date/Time Functions">Table 9.33</a>.)
       </p>
       <p>
        <code class="literal">to_timestamp('05 Dec 2000', 'DD Mon YYYY')</code><code class="returnvalue">2000-12-05 00:00:00-05</code>
       </p></td></tr></tbody></table></div></div><br class="table-break" /><div class="tip"><h3 class="title">Tip</h3><p>
     <code class="function">to_timestamp</code> and <code class="function">to_date</code>
     exist to handle input formats that cannot be converted by
     simple casting.  For most standard date/time formats, simply casting the
     source string to the required data type works, and is much easier.
     Similarly, <code class="function">to_number</code> is unnecessary for standard numeric
     representations.
    </p></div><p>
    In a <code class="function">to_char</code> output template string, there are certain
    patterns that are recognized and replaced with appropriately-formatted
    data based on the given value.  Any text that is not a template pattern is
    simply copied verbatim.  Similarly, in an input template string (for the
    other functions), template patterns identify the values to be supplied by
    the input data string.  If there are characters in the template string
    that are not template patterns, the corresponding characters in the input
    data string are simply skipped over (whether or not they are equal to the
    template string characters).
   </p><p>
   <a class="xref" href="functions-formatting.html#FUNCTIONS-FORMATTING-DATETIME-TABLE" title="Table 9.27. Template Patterns for Date/Time Formatting">Table 9.27</a> shows the
   template patterns available for formatting date and time values.
  </p><div class="table" id="FUNCTIONS-FORMATTING-DATETIME-TABLE"><p class="title"><strong>Table 9.27. Template Patterns for Date/Time Formatting</strong></p><div class="table-contents"><table class="table" summary="Template Patterns for Date/Time Formatting" border="1"><colgroup><col /><col /></colgroup><thead><tr><th>Pattern</th><th>Description</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td><code class="literal">HH</code></td><td>hour of day (01–12)</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">HH12</code></td><td>hour of day (01–12)</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">HH24</code></td><td>hour of day (00–23)</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">MI</code></td><td>minute (00–59)</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">SS</code></td><td>second (00–59)</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">MS</code></td><td>millisecond (000–999)</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">US</code></td><td>microsecond (000000–999999)</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">FF1</code></td><td>tenth of second (0–9)</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">FF2</code></td><td>hundredth of second (00–99)</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">FF3</code></td><td>millisecond (000–999)</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">FF4</code></td><td>tenth of a millisecond (0000–9999)</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">FF5</code></td><td>hundredth of a millisecond (00000–99999)</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">FF6</code></td><td>microsecond (000000–999999)</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">SSSS</code>, <code class="literal">SSSSS</code></td><td>seconds past midnight (0–86399)</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">AM</code>, <code class="literal">am</code>,
        <code class="literal">PM</code> or <code class="literal">pm</code></td><td>meridiem indicator (without periods)</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">A.M.</code>, <code class="literal">a.m.</code>,
        <code class="literal">P.M.</code> or <code class="literal">p.m.</code></td><td>meridiem indicator (with periods)</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">Y,YYY</code></td><td>year (4 or more digits) with comma</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">YYYY</code></td><td>year (4 or more digits)</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">YYY</code></td><td>last 3 digits of year</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">YY</code></td><td>last 2 digits of year</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">Y</code></td><td>last digit of year</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">IYYY</code></td><td>ISO 8601 week-numbering year (4 or more digits)</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">IYY</code></td><td>last 3 digits of ISO 8601 week-numbering year</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">IY</code></td><td>last 2 digits of ISO 8601 week-numbering year</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">I</code></td><td>last digit of ISO 8601 week-numbering year</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">BC</code>, <code class="literal">bc</code>,
        <code class="literal">AD</code> or <code class="literal">ad</code></td><td>era indicator (without periods)</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">B.C.</code>, <code class="literal">b.c.</code>,
        <code class="literal">A.D.</code> or <code class="literal">a.d.</code></td><td>era indicator (with periods)</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">MONTH</code></td><td>full upper case month name (blank-padded to 9 chars)</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">Month</code></td><td>full capitalized month name (blank-padded to 9 chars)</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">month</code></td><td>full lower case month name (blank-padded to 9 chars)</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">MON</code></td><td>abbreviated upper case month name (3 chars in English, localized lengths vary)</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">Mon</code></td><td>abbreviated capitalized month name (3 chars in English, localized lengths vary)</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">mon</code></td><td>abbreviated lower case month name (3 chars in English, localized lengths vary)</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">MM</code></td><td>month number (01–12)</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">DAY</code></td><td>full upper case day name (blank-padded to 9 chars)</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">Day</code></td><td>full capitalized day name (blank-padded to 9 chars)</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">day</code></td><td>full lower case day name (blank-padded to 9 chars)</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">DY</code></td><td>abbreviated upper case day name (3 chars in English, localized lengths vary)</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">Dy</code></td><td>abbreviated capitalized day name (3 chars in English, localized lengths vary)</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">dy</code></td><td>abbreviated lower case day name (3 chars in English, localized lengths vary)</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">DDD</code></td><td>day of year (001–366)</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">IDDD</code></td><td>day of ISO 8601 week-numbering year (001–371; day 1 of the year is Monday of the first ISO week)</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">DD</code></td><td>day of month (01–31)</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">D</code></td><td>day of the week, Sunday (<code class="literal">1</code>) to Saturday (<code class="literal">7</code>)</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">ID</code></td><td>ISO 8601 day of the week, Monday (<code class="literal">1</code>) to Sunday (<code class="literal">7</code>)</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">W</code></td><td>week of month (1–5) (the first week starts on the first day of the month)</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">WW</code></td><td>week number of year (1–53) (the first week starts on the first day of the year)</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">IW</code></td><td>week number of ISO 8601 week-numbering year (01–53; the first Thursday of the year is in week 1)</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">CC</code></td><td>century (2 digits) (the twenty-first century starts on 2001-01-01)</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">J</code></td><td>Julian Date (integer days since November 24, 4714 BC at local
        midnight; see <a class="xref" href="datetime-julian-dates.html" title="B.7. Julian Dates">Section B.7</a>)</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">Q</code></td><td>quarter</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">RM</code></td><td>month in upper case Roman numerals (I–XII; I=January)</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">rm</code></td><td>month in lower case Roman numerals (i–xii; i=January)</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">TZ</code></td><td>upper case time-zone abbreviation
         (only supported in <code class="function">to_char</code>)</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">tz</code></td><td>lower case time-zone abbreviation
         (only supported in <code class="function">to_char</code>)</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">TZH</code></td><td>time-zone hours</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">TZM</code></td><td>time-zone minutes</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">OF</code></td><td>time-zone offset from UTC
         (only supported in <code class="function">to_char</code>)</td></tr></tbody></table></div></div><br class="table-break" /><p>
    Modifiers can be applied to any template pattern to alter its
    behavior.  For example, <code class="literal">FMMonth</code>
    is the <code class="literal">Month</code> pattern with the
    <code class="literal">FM</code> modifier.
    <a class="xref" href="functions-formatting.html#FUNCTIONS-FORMATTING-DATETIMEMOD-TABLE" title="Table 9.28. Template Pattern Modifiers for Date/Time Formatting">Table 9.28</a> shows the
    modifier patterns for date/time formatting.
   </p><div class="table" id="FUNCTIONS-FORMATTING-DATETIMEMOD-TABLE"><p class="title"><strong>Table 9.28. Template Pattern Modifiers for Date/Time Formatting</strong></p><div class="table-contents"><table class="table" summary="Template Pattern Modifiers for Date/Time Formatting" border="1"><colgroup><col /><col /><col /></colgroup><thead><tr><th>Modifier</th><th>Description</th><th>Example</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td><code class="literal">FM</code> prefix</td><td>fill mode (suppress leading zeroes and padding blanks)</td><td><code class="literal">FMMonth</code></td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">TH</code> suffix</td><td>upper case ordinal number suffix</td><td><code class="literal">DDTH</code>, e.g., <code class="literal">12TH</code></td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">th</code> suffix</td><td>lower case ordinal number suffix</td><td><code class="literal">DDth</code>, e.g., <code class="literal">12th</code></td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">FX</code> prefix</td><td>fixed format global option (see usage notes)</td><td><code class="literal">FX Month DD Day</code></td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">TM</code> prefix</td><td>translation mode (use localized day and month names based on
         <a class="xref" href="runtime-config-client.html#GUC-LC-TIME">lc_time</a>)</td><td><code class="literal">TMMonth</code></td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">SP</code> suffix</td><td>spell mode (not implemented)</td><td><code class="literal">DDSP</code></td></tr></tbody></table></div></div><br class="table-break" /><p>
    Usage notes for date/time formatting:

    </p><div class="itemizedlist"><ul class="itemizedlist" style="list-style-type: disc; "><li class="listitem"><p>
       <code class="literal">FM</code> suppresses leading zeroes and trailing blanks
       that would otherwise be added to make the output of a pattern be
       fixed-width.  In <span class="productname">PostgreSQL</span>,
       <code class="literal">FM</code> modifies only the next specification, while in
       Oracle <code class="literal">FM</code> affects all subsequent
       specifications, and repeated <code class="literal">FM</code> modifiers
       toggle fill mode on and off.
      </p></li><li class="listitem"><p>
       <code class="literal">TM</code> suppresses trailing blanks whether or
       not <code class="literal">FM</code> is specified.
      </p></li><li class="listitem"><p>
       <code class="function">to_timestamp</code> and <code class="function">to_date</code>
       ignore letter case in the input; so for
       example <code class="literal">MON</code>, <code class="literal">Mon</code>,
       and <code class="literal">mon</code> all accept the same strings.  When using
       the <code class="literal">TM</code> modifier, case-folding is done according to
       the rules of the function's input collation (see
       <a class="xref" href="collation.html" title="24.2. Collation Support">Section 24.2</a>).
      </p></li><li class="listitem"><p>
       <code class="function">to_timestamp</code> and <code class="function">to_date</code>
       skip multiple blank spaces at the beginning of the input string and
       around date and time values unless the <code class="literal">FX</code> option is used.  For example,
       <code class="literal">to_timestamp(' 2000    JUN', 'YYYY MON')</code> and
       <code class="literal">to_timestamp('2000 - JUN', 'YYYY-MON')</code> work, but
       <code class="literal">to_timestamp('2000    JUN', 'FXYYYY MON')</code> returns an error
       because <code class="function">to_timestamp</code> expects only a single space.
       <code class="literal">FX</code> must be specified as the first item in
       the template.
      </p></li><li class="listitem"><p>
       A separator (a space or non-letter/non-digit character) in the template string of
       <code class="function">to_timestamp</code> and <code class="function">to_date</code>
       matches any single separator in the input string or is skipped,
       unless the <code class="literal">FX</code> option is used.
       For example, <code class="literal">to_timestamp('2000JUN', 'YYYY///MON')</code> and
       <code class="literal">to_timestamp('2000/JUN', 'YYYY MON')</code> work, but
       <code class="literal">to_timestamp('2000//JUN', 'YYYY/MON')</code>
       returns an error because the number of separators in the input string
       exceeds the number of separators in the template.
      </p><p>
       If <code class="literal">FX</code> 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, <code class="literal">to_timestamp('2000/JUN', 'FXYYYY MON')</code>
       works, but <code class="literal">to_timestamp('2000/JUN', 'FXYYYY  MON')</code>
       returns an error because the second space in the template string consumes
       the letter <code class="literal">J</code> from the input string.
      </p></li><li class="listitem"><p>
       A <code class="literal">TZH</code> template pattern can match a signed number.
       Without the <code class="literal">FX</code> 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
       <code class="literal">TZH</code> 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 <code class="literal">TZH</code>.
       Otherwise, the minus sign is considered to be a separator between values.
       For example, <code class="literal">to_timestamp('2000 -10', 'YYYY TZH')</code> matches
       <code class="literal">-10</code> to <code class="literal">TZH</code>, but
       <code class="literal">to_timestamp('2000 -10', 'YYYY  TZH')</code>
       matches <code class="literal">10</code> to <code class="literal">TZH</code>.
      </p></li><li class="listitem"><p>
       Ordinary text is allowed in <code class="function">to_char</code>
       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
       <code class="literal">'"Hello Year "YYYY'</code>, the <code class="literal">YYYY</code>
       will be replaced by the year data, but the single <code class="literal">Y</code> in <code class="literal">Year</code>
       will not be.
       In <code class="function">to_date</code>, <code class="function">to_number</code>,
       and <code class="function">to_timestamp</code>, literal text and double-quoted
       strings result in skipping the number of characters contained in the
       string; for example <code class="literal">"XX"</code> skips two input characters
       (whether or not they are <code class="literal">XX</code>).
      </p><div class="tip"><h3 class="title">Tip</h3><p>
          Prior to <span class="productname">PostgreSQL</span> 12, it was possible to
          skip arbitrary text in the input string using non-letter or non-digit
          characters. For example,
          <code class="literal">to_timestamp('2000y6m1d', 'yyyy-MM-DD')</code> used to
          work.  Now you can only use letter characters for this purpose.  For example,
          <code class="literal">to_timestamp('2000y6m1d', 'yyyytMMtDDt')</code> and
          <code class="literal">to_timestamp('2000y6m1d', 'yyyy"y"MM"m"DD"d"')</code>
          skip <code class="literal">y</code>, <code class="literal">m</code>, and
          <code class="literal">d</code>.
        </p></div></li><li class="listitem"><p>
       If you want to have a double quote in the output you must
       precede it with a backslash, for example <code class="literal">'\"YYYY
       Month\"'</code>. 
       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).
      </p></li><li class="listitem"><p>
       In <code class="function">to_timestamp</code> and <code class="function">to_date</code>,
       if the year format specification is less than four digits, e.g.,
       <code class="literal">YYY</code>, and the supplied year is less than four digits,
       the year will be adjusted to be nearest to the year 2020, e.g.,
       <code class="literal">95</code> becomes 1995.
      </p></li><li class="listitem"><p>
       In <code class="function">to_timestamp</code> and <code class="function">to_date</code>,
       negative years are treated as signifying BC.  If you write both a
       negative year and an explicit <code class="literal">BC</code> field, you get AD
       again.  An input of year zero is treated as 1 BC.
      </p></li><li class="listitem"><p>
       In <code class="function">to_timestamp</code> and <code class="function">to_date</code>,
       the <code class="literal">YYYY</code> conversion has a restriction when
       processing years with more than 4 digits. You must
       use some non-digit character or template after <code class="literal">YYYY</code>,
       otherwise the year is always interpreted as 4 digits. For example
       (with the year 20000):
       <code class="literal">to_date('200001130', 'YYYYMMDD')</code> will be
       interpreted as a 4-digit year; instead use a non-digit
       separator after the year, like
       <code class="literal">to_date('20000-1130', 'YYYY-MMDD')</code> or
       <code class="literal">to_date('20000Nov30', 'YYYYMonDD')</code>.
      </p></li><li class="listitem"><p>
       In <code class="function">to_timestamp</code> and <code class="function">to_date</code>,
       the <code class="literal">CC</code> (century) field is accepted but ignored
       if there is a <code class="literal">YYY</code>, <code class="literal">YYYY</code> or
       <code class="literal">Y,YYY</code> field. If <code class="literal">CC</code> is used with
       <code class="literal">YY</code> or <code class="literal">Y</code> 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.
      </p></li><li class="listitem"><p>
       In <code class="function">to_timestamp</code> and <code class="function">to_date</code>,
       weekday names or numbers (<code class="literal">DAY</code>, <code class="literal">D</code>,
       and related field types) are accepted but are ignored for purposes of
       computing the result.  The same is true for quarter
       (<code class="literal">Q</code>) fields.
      </p></li><li class="listitem"><p>
       In <code class="function">to_timestamp</code> and <code class="function">to_date</code>,
       an ISO 8601 week-numbering date (as distinct from a Gregorian date)
       can be specified in one of two ways:
       </p><div class="itemizedlist"><ul class="itemizedlist" style="list-style-type: circle; "><li class="listitem"><p>
          Year, week number, and weekday:  for
          example <code class="literal">to_date('2006-42-4', 'IYYY-IW-ID')</code>
          returns the date <code class="literal">2006-10-19</code>.
          If you omit the weekday it is assumed to be 1 (Monday).
         </p></li><li class="listitem"><p>
          Year and day of year:  for example <code class="literal">to_date('2006-291',
          'IYYY-IDDD')</code> also returns <code class="literal">2006-10-19</code>.
         </p></li></ul></div><p>
      </p><p>
       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 <span class="quote"><span class="quote">month</span></span> or <span class="quote"><span class="quote">day of month</span></span> has no
       meaning.  In the context of a Gregorian year, the ISO week has no
       meaning.
      </p><div class="caution"><h3 class="title">Caution</h3><p>
        While <code class="function">to_date</code> will reject a mixture of
        Gregorian and ISO week-numbering date
        fields, <code class="function">to_char</code> will not, since output format
        specifications like <code class="literal">YYYY-MM-DD (IYYY-IDDD)</code> can be
        useful.  But avoid writing something like <code class="literal">IYYY-MM-DD</code>;
        that would yield surprising results near the start of the year.
        (See <a class="xref" href="functions-datetime.html#FUNCTIONS-DATETIME-EXTRACT" title="9.9.1. EXTRACT, date_part">Section 9.9.1</a> for more
        information.)
       </p></div></li><li class="listitem"><p>
       In <code class="function">to_timestamp</code>, millisecond
       (<code class="literal">MS</code>) or microsecond (<code class="literal">US</code>)
       fields are used as the
       seconds digits after the decimal point. For example
       <code class="literal">to_timestamp('12.3', 'SS.MS')</code> is not 3 milliseconds,
       but 300, because the conversion treats it as 12 + 0.3 seconds.
       So, for the format <code class="literal">SS.MS</code>, the input values
       <code class="literal">12.3</code>, <code class="literal">12.30</code>,
       and <code class="literal">12.300</code> specify the
       same number of milliseconds. To get three milliseconds, one must write
       <code class="literal">12.003</code>, which the conversion treats as
       12 + 0.003 = 12.003 seconds.
      </p><p>
       Here is a more
       complex example:
       <code class="literal">to_timestamp('15:12:02.020.001230', 'HH24:MI:SS.MS.US')</code>
       is 15 hours, 12 minutes, and 2 seconds + 20 milliseconds +
       1230 microseconds = 2.021230 seconds.
      </p></li><li class="listitem"><p>
        <code class="function">to_char(..., 'ID')</code>'s day of the week numbering
        matches the <code class="function">extract(isodow from ...)</code> function, but
        <code class="function">to_char(..., 'D')</code>'s does not match
        <code class="function">extract(dow from ...)</code>'s day numbering.
      </p></li><li class="listitem"><p>
        <code class="function">to_char(interval)</code> formats <code class="literal">HH</code> and
        <code class="literal">HH12</code> as shown on a 12-hour clock, for example zero hours
        and 36 hours both output as <code class="literal">12</code>, while <code class="literal">HH24</code>
        outputs the full hour value, which can exceed 23 in
        an <code class="type">interval</code> value.
      </p></li></ul></div><p>
   </p><p>
   <a class="xref" href="functions-formatting.html#FUNCTIONS-FORMATTING-NUMERIC-TABLE" title="Table 9.29. Template Patterns for Numeric Formatting">Table 9.29</a> shows the
   template patterns available for formatting numeric values.
  </p><div class="table" id="FUNCTIONS-FORMATTING-NUMERIC-TABLE"><p class="title"><strong>Table 9.29. Template Patterns for Numeric Formatting</strong></p><div class="table-contents"><table class="table" summary="Template Patterns for Numeric Formatting" border="1"><colgroup><col /><col /></colgroup><thead><tr><th>Pattern</th><th>Description</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td><code class="literal">9</code></td><td>digit position (can be dropped if insignificant)</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">0</code></td><td>digit position (will not be dropped, even if insignificant)</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">.</code> (period)</td><td>decimal point</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">,</code> (comma)</td><td>group (thousands) separator</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">PR</code></td><td>negative value in angle brackets</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">S</code></td><td>sign anchored to number (uses locale)</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">L</code></td><td>currency symbol (uses locale)</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">D</code></td><td>decimal point (uses locale)</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">G</code></td><td>group separator (uses locale)</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">MI</code></td><td>minus sign in specified position (if number &lt; 0)</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">PL</code></td><td>plus sign in specified position (if number &gt; 0)</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">SG</code></td><td>plus/minus sign in specified position</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">RN</code></td><td>Roman numeral (input between 1 and 3999)</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">TH</code> or <code class="literal">th</code></td><td>ordinal number suffix</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">V</code></td><td>shift specified number of digits (see notes)</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">EEEE</code></td><td>exponent for scientific notation</td></tr></tbody></table></div></div><br class="table-break" /><p>
    Usage notes for numeric formatting:

    </p><div class="itemizedlist"><ul class="itemizedlist" style="list-style-type: disc; "><li class="listitem"><p>
       <code class="literal">0</code> specifies a digit position that will always be printed,
       even if it contains a leading/trailing zero.  <code class="literal">9</code> 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 <code class="function">to_number()</code>,
       these two pattern characters are equivalent.)
      </p></li><li class="listitem"><p>
       If the format provides fewer fractional digits than the number being
       formatted, <code class="function">to_char()</code> will round the number to
       the specified number of fractional digits.
      </p></li><li class="listitem"><p>
       The pattern characters <code class="literal">S</code>, <code class="literal">L</code>, <code class="literal">D</code>,
       and <code class="literal">G</code> represent the sign, currency symbol, decimal point,
       and thousands separator characters defined by the current locale
       (see <a class="xref" href="runtime-config-client.html#GUC-LC-MONETARY">lc_monetary</a>
       and <a class="xref" href="runtime-config-client.html#GUC-LC-NUMERIC">lc_numeric</a>).  The pattern characters period
       and comma represent those exact characters, with the meanings of
       decimal point and thousands separator, regardless of locale.
      </p></li><li class="listitem"><p>
       If no explicit provision is made for a sign
       in <code class="function">to_char()</code>'s pattern, one column will be reserved for
       the sign, and it will be anchored to (appear just left of) the
       number.  If <code class="literal">S</code> appears just left of some <code class="literal">9</code>'s,
       it will likewise be anchored to the number.
      </p></li><li class="listitem"><p>
       A sign formatted using <code class="literal">SG</code>, <code class="literal">PL</code>, or
       <code class="literal">MI</code> is not anchored to
       the number; for example,
       <code class="literal">to_char(-12, 'MI9999')</code> produces <code class="literal">'-  12'</code>
       but <code class="literal">to_char(-12, 'S9999')</code> produces <code class="literal">'  -12'</code>.
       (The Oracle implementation does not allow the use of
       <code class="literal">MI</code> before <code class="literal">9</code>, but rather
       requires that <code class="literal">9</code> precede
       <code class="literal">MI</code>.)
      </p></li><li class="listitem"><p>
       <code class="literal">TH</code> does not convert values less than zero
       and does not convert fractional numbers.
      </p></li><li class="listitem"><p>
       <code class="literal">PL</code>, <code class="literal">SG</code>, and
       <code class="literal">TH</code> are <span class="productname">PostgreSQL</span>
       extensions.
      </p></li><li class="listitem"><p>
       In <code class="function">to_number</code>, if non-data template patterns such
       as <code class="literal">L</code> or <code class="literal">TH</code> 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, <code class="literal">TH</code> would skip two non-data characters.
      </p></li><li class="listitem"><p>
       <code class="literal">V</code> with <code class="function">to_char</code>
       multiplies the input values by
       <code class="literal">10^<em class="replaceable"><code>n</code></em></code>, where
       <em class="replaceable"><code>n</code></em> is the number of digits following
       <code class="literal">V</code>.  <code class="literal">V</code> with
       <code class="function">to_number</code> divides in a similar manner.
       <code class="function">to_char</code> and <code class="function">to_number</code>
       do not support the use of
       <code class="literal">V</code> combined with a decimal point
       (e.g., <code class="literal">99.9V99</code> is not allowed).
      </p></li><li class="listitem"><p>
       <code class="literal">EEEE</code> (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., <code class="literal">9.99EEEE</code> is a valid pattern).
      </p></li></ul></div><p>
   </p><p>
    Certain modifiers can be applied to any template pattern to alter its
    behavior.  For example, <code class="literal">FM99.99</code>
    is the <code class="literal">99.99</code> pattern with the
    <code class="literal">FM</code> modifier.
    <a class="xref" href="functions-formatting.html#FUNCTIONS-FORMATTING-NUMERICMOD-TABLE" title="Table 9.30. Template Pattern Modifiers for Numeric Formatting">Table 9.30</a> shows the
    modifier patterns for numeric formatting.
   </p><div class="table" id="FUNCTIONS-FORMATTING-NUMERICMOD-TABLE"><p class="title"><strong>Table 9.30. Template Pattern Modifiers for Numeric Formatting</strong></p><div class="table-contents"><table class="table" summary="Template Pattern Modifiers for Numeric Formatting" border="1"><colgroup><col /><col /><col /></colgroup><thead><tr><th>Modifier</th><th>Description</th><th>Example</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td><code class="literal">FM</code> prefix</td><td>fill mode (suppress trailing zeroes and padding blanks)</td><td><code class="literal">FM99.99</code></td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">TH</code> suffix</td><td>upper case ordinal number suffix</td><td><code class="literal">999TH</code></td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">th</code> suffix</td><td>lower case ordinal number suffix</td><td><code class="literal">999th</code></td></tr></tbody></table></div></div><br class="table-break" /><p>
   <a class="xref" href="functions-formatting.html#FUNCTIONS-FORMATTING-EXAMPLES-TABLE" title="Table 9.31. to_char Examples">Table 9.31</a> shows some
   examples of the use of the <code class="function">to_char</code> function.
  </p><div class="table" id="FUNCTIONS-FORMATTING-EXAMPLES-TABLE"><p class="title"><strong>Table 9.31. <code class="function">to_char</code> Examples</strong></p><div class="table-contents"><table class="table" summary="to_char Examples" border="1"><colgroup><col /><col /></colgroup><thead><tr><th>Expression</th><th>Result</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td><code class="literal">to_char(current_timestamp, 'Day, DD  HH12:MI:SS')</code></td><td><code class="literal">'Tuesday  , 06  05:39:18'</code></td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">to_char(current_timestamp, 'FMDay, FMDD  HH12:MI:SS')</code></td><td><code class="literal">'Tuesday, 6  05:39:18'</code></td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">to_char(-0.1, '99.99')</code></td><td><code class="literal">'  -.10'</code></td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">to_char(-0.1, 'FM9.99')</code></td><td><code class="literal">'-.1'</code></td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">to_char(-0.1, 'FM90.99')</code></td><td><code class="literal">'-0.1'</code></td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">to_char(0.1, '0.9')</code></td><td><code class="literal">' 0.1'</code></td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">to_char(12, '9990999.9')</code></td><td><code class="literal">'    0012.0'</code></td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">to_char(12, 'FM9990999.9')</code></td><td><code class="literal">'0012.'</code></td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">to_char(485, '999')</code></td><td><code class="literal">' 485'</code></td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">to_char(-485, '999')</code></td><td><code class="literal">'-485'</code></td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">to_char(485, '9 9 9')</code></td><td><code class="literal">' 4 8 5'</code></td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">to_char(1485, '9,999')</code></td><td><code class="literal">' 1,485'</code></td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">to_char(1485, '9G999')</code></td><td><code class="literal">' 1 485'</code></td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">to_char(148.5, '999.999')</code></td><td><code class="literal">' 148.500'</code></td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">to_char(148.5, 'FM999.999')</code></td><td><code class="literal">'148.5'</code></td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">to_char(148.5, 'FM999.990')</code></td><td><code class="literal">'148.500'</code></td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">to_char(148.5, '999D999')</code></td><td><code class="literal">' 148,500'</code></td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">to_char(3148.5, '9G999D999')</code></td><td><code class="literal">' 3 148,500'</code></td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">to_char(-485, '999S')</code></td><td><code class="literal">'485-'</code></td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">to_char(-485, '999MI')</code></td><td><code class="literal">'485-'</code></td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">to_char(485, '999MI')</code></td><td><code class="literal">'485 '</code></td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">to_char(485, 'FM999MI')</code></td><td><code class="literal">'485'</code></td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">to_char(485, 'PL999')</code></td><td><code class="literal">'+485'</code></td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">to_char(485, 'SG999')</code></td><td><code class="literal">'+485'</code></td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">to_char(-485, 'SG999')</code></td><td><code class="literal">'-485'</code></td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">to_char(-485, '9SG99')</code></td><td><code class="literal">'4-85'</code></td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">to_char(-485, '999PR')</code></td><td><code class="literal">'&lt;485&gt;'</code></td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">to_char(485, 'L999')</code></td><td><code class="literal">'DM 485'</code></td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">to_char(485, 'RN')</code></td><td><code class="literal">'        CDLXXXV'</code></td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">to_char(485, 'FMRN')</code></td><td><code class="literal">'CDLXXXV'</code></td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">to_char(5.2, 'FMRN')</code></td><td><code class="literal">'V'</code></td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">to_char(482, '999th')</code></td><td><code class="literal">' 482nd'</code></td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">to_char(485, '"Good number:"999')</code></td><td><code class="literal">'Good number: 485'</code></td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">to_char(485.8, '"Pre:"999" Post:" .999')</code></td><td><code class="literal">'Pre: 485 Post: .800'</code></td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">to_char(12, '99V999')</code></td><td><code class="literal">' 12000'</code></td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">to_char(12.4, '99V999')</code></td><td><code class="literal">' 12400'</code></td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">to_char(12.45, '99V9')</code></td><td><code class="literal">' 125'</code></td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">to_char(0.0004859, '9.99EEEE')</code></td><td><code class="literal">' 4.86e-04'</code></td></tr></tbody></table></div></div><br class="table-break" /></div><div 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