TO_DATE

text: The text data representing the date that you want to convert into a date format. It should be in a recognizable date format, such as "YYYY-MM-DD" or "MM/DD/YYYY."

[format]: Optional. Tells TO_DATE() exactly how to interpret the input text. You can often omit this argument when the date is in a common recognizable format and can be auto-parsed correctly.
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Use [format] when the input could be interpreted more than one way, does not follow a standard format, includes text-based components (ex: month names), or when you want to guarantee consistent parsing. For example, "dd/MM/yyyy" ensures "03/04/2025" is interpreted as 3 April 2025, not March 4, 2025.

You can build a format pattern using a combination of symbols (ex: yyyy, MM, dd) and literal separators (ex: spaces, commas, slashes, and dashes). The pattern must match the structure of the input text. Supported format symbols are listed below, and symbol capitalization matters. For example, MM represents a month, while mm represents minutes, so using the wrong capitalization can result in incorrect parsing.

A common mistake is using YYYY (uppercase), which represents a week-based year and can produce unexpected results near year boundaries. Always use lowercase yyyy for calendar year. Additionally, when parsing yy (2-digit year), the year is interpreted relative to a century window. Dates are adjusted to fall within 80 years before and 20 years after the time of calculation. For example, if the calculation runs on 3/25/2026, 3/24/46 is parsed as 3/24/2046 and 3/26/46 is parsed as 3/26/1946.

Savant format patterns follow standard Unicode (CLDR) and Java date/time conventions.