Name

datestring , datestring_gmt — convert a datetime from internal to external date-time representation

Synopsis

datestring ( in date datetime );
datestring_gmt ( in date datetime );

Description

datestring and datestring_gmt convert timestamps or datetimes from internal to external date-time representation. The external representation is a human-readable ASCII string of up to 30 characters.

The external format is: YYYY-MM-DD hh:mm:ss uuuuuu where uuuuuu represents microseconds.

[Note] Note:

Using cast (dt as varchar) is preferred over datestring .

Parameters

date

A datetime value.

Return values

datestring and datestring_GMT return a varchar .

Examples

Example24.73.Simple Example

Get current date in human-readable form.

 SQL> select datestring(now());
 callret
 VARCHAR
 _______________________________________________________________________________

 2001-03-01 12:49:59.000000

 1 Rows. -- 585 msec.


Example24.74.A table query example

Get orders shipped later than July 3, 1996

 SQL> select left (datestring(ShippedDate), 10) from Orders
    where ShippedDate > stringdate ('1996.6.3');
 callret
 VARCHAR
 _______________________________________________________________________________

 1996-06-04
 1996-06-04
 1996-06-05
 1996-06-05
 1996-06-05

 5 Rows. -- 3 msec.


See Also

datestring_gmt , stringdate

The discussion of TIMESTAMP datatype in section Database Concepts of the documentation.