ORACLE - Conversion Functions : To_char

the to_char function converts a number or date to a string.

The syntax :
to_char( value, [ format_mask ], [ nls_language ] )
value can either be a number or date that will be converted to a string.
format_mask is optional. This is the format that will be used to convert value to a string.
nls_language is optional. This is the nls language used to convert value to a string.

Examples - Numbers
The following are number examples for the to_char function.
to_char(1113214.23, '9999.999.9') would return '1113,214.7'
to_char(3214.23, '9,999.99') would return '3,214.23'
to_char(3214.23, '$9,999.00') would return '$3,214.23'
to_char(78, '000099') would return '000078'

Examples - Dates
The following are date examples for the to_char function.
to_char(sysdate, 'yyyy/mm/dd'); would return '2008/07/19'
to_char(sysdate, 'Month DD, YYYY'); would return 'July 19, 2003'