How to get 4 digit year in pl/sql?

Question

select TO_DATE ('99991231', 'yyyymmdd')
from dual;
The above query gives output as --> 12/31/9999
but using the same in pl/sql it gives --> 31-DEC-99
declare
v_date varchar2(12) := '99991231';
v_tmp date;
begin
select TO_DATE (v_date, 'yyyymmdd') into v_tmp
from dual;
dbms_output.put_line(v_tmp);
end;
I would like to see 12/31/9999 in pl/sql. How can i do this?

Answer 1

That surprises me since it implies that you nls_date_format is different in pl/sql than it is in sql. Are you doing this in sqlplus or some other tool? Are you running both samples in the same session.
SQL> SELECT TO_DATE ('99991231', 'yyyymmdd')
  2  FROM dual;
TO_DATE('99
31-DEC-9999
SQL> DECLARE
  2     v_date VARCHAR2(12) := '99991231';
  3     v_tmp DATE;
  4  BEGIN
  5     SELECT TO_DATE (v_date, 'yyyymmdd') into v_tmp
  6     FROM dual;
  7  DBMS_OUTPUT.Put_Line(v_tmp);
  8  END;
  9  /
31-DEC-9999
PL/SQL procedure successfully completed.Having said that, in general, if you want a date displayed in a specific format, you need to use TO_CHAR on it with a format mask you want, and not rely on an implicit conversion as you are doing here.
John