Re: Different date format

Hello Erika,

select add_months(to_date(sysdate, 'DD-MON-YYYY'), -299) from dual;

does the following:

1. Convert sysdate to a varchar2 with your nls_date_format active for that session. Because we do not know it I cannot tell you what is going on.
2. Convert the resulting string by "to_date (..., 'DD-MON-YYYY')" to a date.
3. Subtract 299 months from that date.
4. Convert it to a varchar2 and display it.

The second statement "select add_months(sysdate, -299) from dual;" does the following:

1. Subtract 299 months from sysdate.
2. Convert it to a varchar2 and display it.

See the difference? The first one changes your date by converting it to a varchar2 and back to a date.

Martin Received on Fri May 04 2001 - 19:00:50 CDT