MySQL to_char Equivalent: Use DATE_FORMAT

The TO_CHAR function in MySQL is not an internal function of MySQL, but a function found in Oracle database. There is no equivalent function in MySQL.

In MySQL, other functions can be used to achieve similar functionality. For example, the DATE_FORMAT function can format dates or times into specified string formats.

For instance, if there is a table called “table_name” with a column named “date_column” that is of date type, we can use the DATE_FORMAT function to format the date into a specified string format. Here is how it can be used:

Select the date from the column and format it as ‘YYYY-MM-DD’ in the output.

This will return a date string represented in the format “YYYY-MM-DD”. You can use different format strings as needed to achieve various formatting options.