The Oracle and PL/SQL TO_CHAR function converts a number or date to a string.
The general format is:
TO_CHAR(date1 [,fmt])
TO_CHAR(number1 [,fmt])
Example 1:
SELECT TO_CHAR(sysdate) FROM DUAL;
returns:
15-JUN-15
Example 2:
SELECT TO_CHAR(sysdate, 'dd/mm/yyyy') FROM DUAL;
returns:
15/06/2015
Example 3:
SELECT TO_CHAR(123.456, '09999') FROM DUAL;
returns:
00123
Example 4:
SELECT TO_CHAR(123.456, '09999.9') FROM DUAL;
returns:
00123.5