Date/Time format strings control the conversion of strings into date time type.

Date Time Format Strings are composed from specifies that describe values to be converted into the date time value.

In the following table, specifies are given in lower case. Case is ignored in formats, except for the "am/pm" and "a/p" specifies.

Specifier          Description

d                      Day as a number without a leading zero (1-31).

dd                    Day as a number with a leading zero (01-31).

m                     Month as a number without a leading zero (1-12).

mm                  Month as a number with a leading zero (01-12).

mmm              Month as an abbreviation (Jan-Dec).

mmmm           Month as a full name (January-December).

yy                    Year as a two-digit number (00-99).

yyyy                Year as a four-digit number (0000-9999).

h                      Hour without a leading zero (0-23).

hh                    Hour with a leading zero (00-23).

n                      Minute without a leading zero (0-59).

nn                    Minute with a leading zero (00-59).

s                       Second without a leading zero (0-59).

ss                     Second with a leading zero (00-59).

zzz                   Fraction of Second with a leading zero (000-999).
                        (Works only for oracle time stamp fileds)

tt                      Uses the 12-hour clock for the preceding h or hh specifier,  'am' for any hour before noon, and 'pm' for any hour after noon.