# TO\$1CHAR
TO\$1CHAR converts a timestamp or numeric expression to a character-string data format.
## Syntax
```
TO_CHAR (timestamp_expression | numeric_expression , 'format')
```
## Arguments
*timestamp\$1expression*
An expression that results in a TIMESTAMP or TIMESTAMPTZ type value or a value that can implicitly be coerced to a timestamp.
*numeric\$1expression*
An expression that results in a numeric data type value or a value that can implicitly be coerced to a numeric type. For more information, see [Numeric types](Numeric_types.md). TO\$1CHAR inserts a space to the left of the numeral string.
TO\$1CHAR doesn't support 128-bit DECIMAL values.
*format*
The format for the new value. For valid formats, see [Datetime format strings](FORMAT_strings.md) and [Numeric format strings](Numeric_formating.md).
## Return type
VARCHAR
## Examples
The following example converts a timestamp to a value with the date and time in a format with the name of the month padded to nine characters, the name of the day of the week, and the day number of the month.
```
select to_char(timestamp '2009-12-31 23:15:59', 'MONTH-DY-DD-YYYY HH12:MIPM');
to_char
-------------------------
DECEMBER -THU-31-2009 11:15PM
```
The following example converts a timestamp to a value with day number of the year.
```
select to_char(timestamp '2009-12-31 23:15:59', 'DDD');
to_char
-------------------------
365
```
The following example converts a timestamp to an ISO day number of the week.
```
select to_char(timestamp '2022-05-16 23:15:59', 'ID');
to_char
-------------------------
1
```
The following example extracts the month name from a date.
```
select to_char(date '2009-12-31', 'MONTH');
to_char
-------------------------
DECEMBER
```
The following example converts each STARTTIME value in the EVENT table to a string that consists of hours, minutes, and seconds.
```
select to_char(starttime, 'HH12:MI:SS')
from event where eventid between 1 and 5
order by eventid;
to_char
----------
02:30:00
08:00:00
02:30:00
02:30:00
07:00:00
(5 rows)
```
The following example converts an entire timestamp value into a different format.
```
select starttime, to_char(starttime, 'MON-DD-YYYY HH12:MIPM')
from event where eventid=1;
starttime | to_char
---------------------+---------------------
2008-01-25 14:30:00 | JAN-25-2008 02:30PM
(1 row)
```
The following example converts a timestamp literal to a character string.
```
select to_char(timestamp '2009-12-31 23:15:59','HH24:MI:SS');
to_char
----------
23:15:59
(1 row)
```
The following example converts a number to a character string with the negative sign at the end.
```
select to_char(-125.8, '999D99S');
to_char
---------
125.80-
(1 row)
```
The following example converts a number to a character string with the currency symbol.
```
select to_char(-125.88, '$S999D99');
to_char
---------
$-125.88
(1 row)
```
The following example converts a number to a character string using angle brackets for negative numbers.
```
select to_char(-125.88, '$999D99PR');
to_char
---------
$<125.88>
(1 row)
```
The following example converts a number to a Roman numeral string.
```
select to_char(125, 'RN');
to_char
---------
CXXV
(1 row)
```
The following example displays the day of the week.
```
SELECT to_char(current_timestamp, 'FMDay, FMDD HH12:MI:SS');
to_char
-----------------------
Wednesday, 31 09:34:26
```
The following example displays the ordinal number suffix for a number.
```
SELECT to_char(482, '999th');
to_char
-----------------------
482nd
```
The following example subtracts the commission from the price paid in the sales table. The difference is then rounded up and converted to a roman numeral, shown in the `to_char` column:
```
select salesid, pricepaid, commission, (pricepaid - commission)
as difference, to_char(pricepaid - commission, 'rn') from sales
group by sales.pricepaid, sales.commission, salesid
order by salesid limit 10;
salesid | pricepaid | commission | difference | to_char
---------+-----------+------------+------------+-----------------
1 | 728.00 | 109.20 | 618.80 | dcxix
2 | 76.00 | 11.40 | 64.60 | lxv
3 | 350.00 | 52.50 | 297.50 | ccxcviii
4 | 175.00 | 26.25 | 148.75 | cxlix
5 | 154.00 | 23.10 | 130.90 | cxxxi
6 | 394.00 | 59.10 | 334.90 | cccxxxv
7 | 788.00 | 118.20 | 669.80 | dclxx
8 | 197.00 | 29.55 | 167.45 | clxvii
9 | 591.00 | 88.65 | 502.35 | dii
10 | 65.00 | 9.75 | 55.25 | lv
(10 rows)
```
The following example adds the currency symbol to the difference values shown in the `to_char` column:
```
select salesid, pricepaid, commission, (pricepaid - commission)
as difference, to_char(pricepaid - commission, 'l99999D99') from sales
group by sales.pricepaid, sales.commission, salesid
order by salesid limit 10;
salesid | pricepaid | commission | difference | to_char
--------+-----------+------------+------------+------------
1 | 728.00 | 109.20 | 618.80 | $ 618.80
2 | 76.00 | 11.40 | 64.60 | $ 64.60
3 | 350.00 | 52.50 | 297.50 | $ 297.50
4 | 175.00 | 26.25 | 148.75 | $ 148.75
5 | 154.00 | 23.10 | 130.90 | $ 130.90
6 | 394.00 | 59.10 | 334.90 | $ 334.90
7 | 788.00 | 118.20 | 669.80 | $ 669.80
8 | 197.00 | 29.55 | 167.45 | $ 167.45
9 | 591.00 | 88.65 | 502.35 | $ 502.35
10 | 65.00 | 9.75 | 55.25 | $ 55.25
(10 rows)
```
The following example lists the century in which each sale was made.
```
select salesid, saletime, to_char(saletime, 'cc') from sales
order by salesid limit 10;
salesid | saletime | to_char
---------+---------------------+---------
1 | 2008-02-18 02:36:48 | 21
2 | 2008-06-06 05:00:16 | 21
3 | 2008-06-06 08:26:17 | 21
4 | 2008-06-09 08:38:52 | 21
5 | 2008-08-31 09:17:02 | 21
6 | 2008-07-16 11:59:24 | 21
7 | 2008-06-26 12:56:06 | 21
8 | 2008-07-10 02:12:36 | 21
9 | 2008-07-22 02:23:17 | 21
10 | 2008-08-06 02:51:55 | 21
(10 rows)
```
The following example converts each STARTTIME value in the EVENT table to a string that consists of hours, minutes, seconds, and time zone.
```
select to_char(starttime, 'HH12:MI:SS TZ')
from event where eventid between 1 and 5
order by eventid;
to_char
----------
02:30:00 UTC
08:00:00 UTC
02:30:00 UTC
02:30:00 UTC
07:00:00 UTC
(5 rows)
(10 rows)
```
The following example shows formatting for seconds, milliseconds, and microseconds.
```
select sysdate,
to_char(sysdate, 'HH24:MI:SS') as seconds,
to_char(sysdate, 'HH24:MI:SS.MS') as milliseconds,
to_char(sysdate, 'HH24:MI:SS:US') as microseconds;
timestamp | seconds | milliseconds | microseconds
--------------------+----------+--------------+----------------
2015-04-10 18:45:09 | 18:45:09 | 18:45:09.325 | 18:45:09:325143
```