zone</type>, <type>text</type> )
        <returnvalue>text</returnvalue>
       </para>
       <para>
        Converts time stamp to string according to the given format.
       </para>
       <para>
        <literal>to_char(timestamp '2002-04-20 17:31:12.66', 'HH12:MI:SS')</literal>
        <returnvalue>05:31:12</returnvalue>
       </para></entry>
      </row>

      <row>
       <entry role="func_table_entry"><para role="func_signature">
        <function>to_char</function> ( <type>interval</type>, <type>text</type> )
        <returnvalue>text</returnvalue>
       </para>
       <para>
        Converts interval to string according to the given format.
       </para>
       <para>
       <literal>to_char(interval '15h 2m 12s', 'HH24:MI:SS')</literal>
       <returnvalue>15:02:12</returnvalue>
       </para></entry>
      </row>

      <row>
       <entry role="func_table_entry"><para role="func_signature">
        <function>to_char</function> ( <replaceable>numeric_type</replaceable>, <type>text</type> )
        <returnvalue>text</returnvalue>
       </para>
       <para>
        Converts number to string according to the given format; available
        for <type>integer</type>, <type>bigint</type>, <type>numeric</type>,
        <type>real</type>, <type>double precision</type>.
       </para>
       <para>
        <literal>to_char(125, '999')</literal>
        <returnvalue>125</returnvalue>
       </para>
       <para>
        <literal>to_char(125.8::real, '999D9')</literal>
        <returnvalue>125.8</returnvalue>
       </para>
       <para>
        <literal>to_char(-125.8, '999D99S')</literal>
        <returnvalue>125.80-</returnvalue>
       </para></entry>
      </row>

      <row>
       <entry role="func_table_entry"><para role="func_signature">
        <indexterm>
         <primary>to_date</primary>
        </indexterm>
        <function>to_date</function> ( <type>text</type>, <type>text</type> )
        <returnvalue>date</returnvalue>
       </para>
       <para>
        Converts string to date according to the given format.
       </para>
       <para>
        <literal>to_date('05 Dec 2000', 'DD Mon YYYY')</literal>
        <returnvalue>2000-12-05</returnvalue>
       </para></entry>
      </row>

      <row>
       <entry role="func_table_entry"><para role="func_signature">
        <indexterm>
         <primary>to_number</primary>
        </indexterm>
        <function>to_number</function> ( <type>text</type>, <type>text</type> )
        <returnvalue>numeric</returnvalue>
       </para>
       <para>
        Converts string to numeric according to the given format.
       </para>
       <para>
        <literal>to_number('12,454.8-', '99G999D9S')</literal>
        <returnvalue>-12454.8</returnvalue>
       </para></entry>
      </row>

      <row>
       <entry role="func_table_entry"><para role="func_signature">
        <indexterm>
         <primary>to_timestamp</primary>
        </indexterm>
        <function>to_timestamp</function> ( <type>text</type>, <type>text</type> )
        <returnvalue>timestamp with time zone</returnvalue>
       </para>
       <para>
        Converts string to time stamp according to the given format.
        (See also <function>to_timestamp(double precision)</function> in
        <xref linkend="functions-datetime-table"/>.)
       </para>
       <para>
        <literal>to_timestamp('05 Dec 2000', 'DD Mon YYYY')</literal>
        <returnvalue>2000-12-05 00:00:00-05</returnvalue>
       </para></entry>
      </row>
     </tbody>
    </tgroup>
   </table>

   <tip>
    <para>
     <function>to_timestamp</function> and <function>to_date</function>
     exist to handle input formats that cannot be converted by
     simple casting.  For most standard date/time formats, simply casting the
     source string to the required data type works, and is much easier.
     Similarly, <function>to_number</function> is unnecessary for standard numeric
     representations.
    </para>
   </tip>

   <para>