I want to reset my date to this format: 12/31/2012 11:59:59 PM .. please ad

Question

I want to reset my date to this format: 12/31/2012 11:59:59 PM - see code below:
DECLARE
v_latest_close DATE;
BEGIN
v_latest_close := TO_DATE ('12/31/2012 23:59:59 ','MM/DD/YYYY HH24:MI:SS');
DBMS_OUTPUT.PUT_LINE('The new date format is : '|| v_latest_close);
END;
the code above displays only : 12/31/2012 instead of 12/31/2012 11:59:59 PM
Please advise
Hope

Answer 1

Hi 976253,
Try this... and NO need to change the variable from DATE to TIMESTAMP.
Here,
'v_latest_close' had the string '12/31/2012 23:59:59' converted into DATE format (using TO_DATE).
But, DATE even though internally is stored in different way, when displayed it gets formatted as per your NLS settings.
So, just for sake of display, we used TO_CHAR with the desired Format String.
DECLARE
v_latest_close DATE;
BEGIN
v_latest_close := TO_DATE ('12/31/2012 23:59:59 ','MM/DD/YYYY HH24:MI:SS');
DBMS_OUTPUT.PUT_LINE('The new date format is : '|| to_char(v_latest_close,'mm/dd/yyyy hh12:mi:ss AM'));
END;gives
The new date format is : 12/31/2012 11:59:59 PM@OraFighter -
TIMESTAMP is needed to hold 'extra' DATE attributes like - Fractional Seconds, TIMEZONE, etc.
In this case, DATE will suffice. It internally stores the 'Time' details and only is matter of display using TO_CHAR.
Hope that Helps,
Ranit B.