Part 105: Formatting Dates & Numbers: TO_CHAR & DATE_FORMAT

Transforming raw database dates into formatted strings for human presentation.

1. PostgreSQL TO_CHAR

SELECT 
  TO_CHAR(CURRENT_TIMESTAMP, 'Month DD, YYYY') AS formatted_date,
  TO_CHAR(1234567.89, '$9,999,999.00') AS formatted_currency
;

Key Takeaways

• TO_CHAR gives complete control over presentation masks for dates and numbers.

In Part 106, we master The CASE Expression: Simple CASE vs Searched CASE!