FORMAT ( date|number, format_string )

This returns a string from a date or number using the format_string syntax.
In the case of a date, the format_string should be structured to indicate the year, month, day, etc. with their initial.

Working with time

To remove the time from a date time use the TRUNC function.
To retrieve the time from a date use format(GETDATE(),’HH:mn:ss’)

See Also: MONTH, DAYOFWEEK

Example:

/* might return something like 29-2015-12 */

SELECT FORMAT (GETDATE(), ‘dd-yyyy-mm’) 

/* returns 5,459,40 */

SELECT FORMAT (5459.4, '##,##0.00')



/* Returns name of month in full e.g. 'October' */

SELECT DISTINCT thedate,FORMAT(thedate,'MMMMM') AS MonthName FROM transact

TheDate		Month

10/1/2000	October

10/2/2000	October

10/3/2000	October

10/4/2000	October



/* Returns name of month in abbreviated e.g. Oct */

SELECT DISTINCT thedate,FORMAT(thedate,'MMM') AS MonthName FROM transact

TheDate		Month

10/1/2000	Oct

10/2/2000	Oct

10/3/2000	Oct

10/4/2000	Oct