Display date format

Question

Hi all
The date column contains values such as 31-12-4712, 10-12-2012, (real date) etc.
In the output (tab delimitted format), I need to put Null for 31-12-4712 and display dates otherthan 31-12-4712 as actual values
Can I use decode to achieve the above or is there is a better method to achieve the above
Thanks in advance
regards
anna

Answer 1

Hi,
Oneway
with dat as(
select to_date('31-12-4712','DD-MM-RRRR') x from dual union all
select to_date('10-12-2012','DD-MM-RRRR') from dual)
select
case when x=to_date('31-12-4712','DD-MM-RRRR') then
null
else x
end x
from datTwinkle,
I think with decode it will change the return type to varchar.
Decode might not be the ideal way (but as always it depends :) )
with dat as(
select to_date('31-12-4712','DD-MM-RRRR') x from dual union all
select to_date('10-12-2012','DD-MM-RRRR') from dual)
select
case when decode(x, to_date('31-12-4712','DD-MM-RRRR'),null,x) >'00-00-00' then
to_char('GONE')
else
to_char(x,'DD_MON_YYYY')
end y
from datRegards,
Bhushan
Edited by: Buga added decode example