A detailed explanation of how to use the to_date() function in Oracle

The to_date() function in Oracle is used to convert a string into a date type.

The syntax of the to_date() function is as follows:
to_date(string, format)

Explanation of Parameters:

1. String: The string to be converted into a date.
2. Format: The date format of the string.

For example, to convert the string ‘2021-12-31’ to a date type, you can use the following statement:
to_date(‘2021-12-31’, ‘YYYY-MM-DD’)

Specific date format codes must be used in the format parameter to specify the format of the date string. Some common date format codes include:

1. Year: a four-digit numerical value representing a calendar year.
2. MM: Two months
3. DD: Two dates

In addition, other formatting codes can be used to represent time, time zone, and other information. Specific date formatting codes can be referred to in the Oracle official documentation on date and time formatting models.

Additionally, the to_date() function can also handle strings that contain a time component. For example, to convert the string ‘2021-12-31 23:59:59’ into a date type, you can use the following statement: to_date(‘2021-12-31 23:59:59’, ‘YYYY-MM-DD HH24:MI:SS’).