By: Log Buffer #267, A Carnival of the Vanities for DBAs | The Pythian Blog

Log Buffer #267, A Carnival of the Vanities for DBAs | The Pythian Blog — Sat, 14 Apr 2012 00:20:17 +0000

[...] Reproducing a Canned Report using a Single SQL Statement is another good post by Charles Hooper. [...]

By: Charles Hooper

Charles Hooper — Thu, 12 Apr 2012 11:35:05 +0000

Timo, Thank you for the comment - you raise a very valid point. In the article I made the following comment:

"On Oracle Database, we are able to use the TO_DATE function to almost reproduce the above translation table, although NLS settings that are in effect could produce results that require further adjustment."

When I wrote that statement, I expected that there was a simple format override for the TO_CHAR function that would permit altering the NLS settings for only the TO_CHAR function, similar to what is shown in the documentation: http://docs.oracle.com/cd/B28359_01/olap.111/b28126/dml_functions_2113.htm After seeing your comment, I went back to the following example in this blog article, trying the SQL statement with the NLS_TERRITORY values that you specified:

SELECT
  TO_DATE('03/26/2012','MM/DD/YYYY')+(LEVEL-1) MY_DATE,
  TO_CHAR(TO_DATE('03/26/2012','MM/DD/YYYY')+(LEVEL-1), 'D') AS D,
  MOD(TO_CHAR(TO_DATE('03/26/2012','MM/DD/YYYY')+(LEVEL-1), 'D'),7) DAY_OF_WEEK
FROM
  DUAL
CONNECT BY
  LEVEL <= (TO_DATE('04/14/2012','MM/DD/YYYY') - TO_DATE('03/26/2012','MM/DD/YYYY'))+1;
 
MY_DATE   D DAY_OF_WEEK
--------- - -----------
26-MAR-12 2           2
27-MAR-12 3           3
28-MAR-12 4           4
29-MAR-12 5           5
30-MAR-12 6           6
31-MAR-12 7           0
01-APR-12 1           1
02-APR-12 2           2
03-APR-12 3           3
04-APR-12 4           4
05-APR-12 5           5
06-APR-12 6           6
07-APR-12 7           0
08-APR-12 1           1
09-APR-12 2           2
10-APR-12 3           3
11-APR-12 4           4
12-APR-12 5           5
13-APR-12 6           6
14-APR-12 7           0

FINLAND:

alter session set nls_territory=finland;
 
SELECT
  TO_DATE('03/26/2012','MM/DD/YYYY')+(LEVEL-1) MY_DATE,
  TO_CHAR(TO_DATE('03/26/2012','MM/DD/YYYY')+(LEVEL-1), 'D') AS D,
  MOD(TO_CHAR(TO_DATE('03/26/2012','MM/DD/YYYY')+(LEVEL-1), 'D'),7) DAY_OF_WEEK
FROM
  DUAL
CONNECT BY
  LEVEL <= (TO_DATE('04/14/2012','MM/DD/YYYY') - TO_DATE('03/26/2012','MM/DD/YYYY'))+1;
 
MY_DATE    D DAY_OF_WEEK
---------- - -----------
26.03.2012 1           1
27.03.2012 2           2
28.03.2012 3           3
29.03.2012 4           4
30.03.2012 5           5
31.03.2012 6           6
01.04.2012 7           0
02.04.2012 1           1
03.04.2012 2           2
04.04.2012 3           3
05.04.2012 4           4
06.04.2012 5           5
07.04.2012 6           6
08.04.2012 7           0
09.04.2012 1           1
10.04.2012 2           2
11.04.2012 3           3
12.04.2012 4           4
13.04.2012 5           5
14.04.2012 6           6

AMERICA:

alter session set nls_territory=america;
 
SELECT
  TO_DATE('03/26/2012','MM/DD/YYYY')+(LEVEL-1) MY_DATE,
  TO_CHAR(TO_DATE('03/26/2012','MM/DD/YYYY')+(LEVEL-1), 'D') AS D,
  MOD(TO_CHAR(TO_DATE('03/26/2012','MM/DD/YYYY')+(LEVEL-1), 'D'),7) DAY_OF_WEEK
FROM
  DUAL
CONNECT BY
  LEVEL <= (TO_DATE('04/14/2012','MM/DD/YYYY') - TO_DATE('03/26/2012','MM/DD/YYYY'))+1;
 
MY_DATE   D DAY_OF_WEEK
--------- - -----------
26-MAR-12 2           2
27-MAR-12 3           3
28-MAR-12 4           4
29-MAR-12 5           5
30-MAR-12 6           6
31-MAR-12 7           0
01-APR-12 1           1
02-APR-12 2           2
03-APR-12 3           3
04-APR-12 4           4
05-APR-12 5           5
06-APR-12 6           6
07-APR-12 7           0
08-APR-12 1           1
09-APR-12 2           2
10-APR-12 3           3
11-APR-12 4           4
12-APR-12 5           5
13-APR-12 6           6
14-APR-12 7           0

BANGLADESH:

alter session set nls_territory=bangladesh;
 
SELECT
  TO_DATE('03/26/2012','MM/DD/YYYY')+(LEVEL-1) MY_DATE,
  TO_CHAR(TO_DATE('03/26/2012','MM/DD/YYYY')+(LEVEL-1), 'D') AS D,
  MOD(TO_CHAR(TO_DATE('03/26/2012','MM/DD/YYYY')+(LEVEL-1), 'D'),7) DAY_OF_WEEK
FROM
  DUAL
CONNECT BY
  LEVEL <= (TO_DATE('04/14/2012','MM/DD/YYYY') - TO_DATE('03/26/2012','MM/DD/YYYY'))+1;
 
MY_DATE    D DAY_OF_WEEK
---------- - -----------
26-03-2012 4           4
27-03-2012 5           5
28-03-2012 6           6
29-03-2012 7           0
30-03-2012 1           1
31-03-2012 2           2
01-04-2012 3           3
02-04-2012 4           4
03-04-2012 5           5
04-04-2012 6           6
05-04-2012 7           0
06-04-2012 1           1
07-04-2012 2           2
08-04-2012 3           3
09-04-2012 4           4
10-04-2012 5           5
11-04-2012 6           6
12-04-2012 7           0
13-04-2012 1           1
14-04-2012 2           2

After spending a bit of time experimenting with different NLS format parameters inside the TO_CHAR function, it became apparent that the MOD function simply will not work for this solution for some NLS regions. As a result, I am proposing a work-around: FINLAND:

alter session set nls_territory=finland;
 
SELECT
  TO_DATE('03/26/2012','MM/DD/YYYY')+(LEVEL-1) MY_DATE,
  MOD(TO_CHAR(TO_DATE('03/26/2012','MM/DD/YYYY')+(LEVEL-1), 'D'),7) AS OLD_DAY_OF_WEEK,
  TO_CHAR(TO_DATE('03/26/2012','MM/DD/YYYY')+(LEVEL-1), 'DY', 'nls_date_language=american') AS DAY,
  DECODE(TO_CHAR(TO_DATE('03/26/2012','MM/DD/YYYY')+(LEVEL-1), 'DY', 'nls_date_language=american'),
    'MON',2,
    'TUE',3,
    'WED',4,
    'THU',5,
    'FRI',6,
    'SAT',0,
    'SUN',1) AS DAY_OF_WEEK
FROM
  DUAL
CONNECT BY
  LEVEL <= (TO_DATE('04/14/2012','MM/DD/YYYY') - TO_DATE('03/26/2012','MM/DD/YYYY'))+1;
 
MY_DATE    OLD_DAY_OF_WEEK DAY DAY_OF_WEEK
---------- --------------- --- -----------
26.03.2012               1 MON           2
27.03.2012               2 TUE           3
28.03.2012               3 WED           4
29.03.2012               4 THU           5
30.03.2012               5 FRI           6
31.03.2012               6 SAT           0
01.04.2012               0 SUN           1
02.04.2012               1 MON           2
03.04.2012               2 TUE           3
04.04.2012               3 WED           4
05.04.2012               4 THU           5
06.04.2012               5 FRI           6
07.04.2012               6 SAT           0
08.04.2012               0 SUN           1
09.04.2012               1 MON           2
10.04.2012               2 TUE           3
11.04.2012               3 WED           4
12.04.2012               4 THU           5
13.04.2012               5 FRI           6
14.04.2012               6 SAT           0

AMERICA:

alter session set nls_territory=america;
 
SELECT
  TO_DATE('03/26/2012','MM/DD/YYYY')+(LEVEL-1) MY_DATE,
  MOD(TO_CHAR(TO_DATE('03/26/2012','MM/DD/YYYY')+(LEVEL-1), 'D'),7) AS OLD_DAY_OF_WEEK,
  TO_CHAR(TO_DATE('03/26/2012','MM/DD/YYYY')+(LEVEL-1), 'DY', 'nls_date_language=american') AS DAY,
  DECODE(TO_CHAR(TO_DATE('03/26/2012','MM/DD/YYYY')+(LEVEL-1), 'DY', 'nls_date_language=american'),
    'MON',2,
    'TUE',3,
    'WED',4,
    'THU',5,
    'FRI',6,
    'SAT',0,
    'SUN',1) AS DAY_OF_WEEK
FROM
  DUAL
CONNECT BY
  LEVEL <= (TO_DATE('04/14/2012','MM/DD/YYYY') - TO_DATE('03/26/2012','MM/DD/YYYY'))+1;
 
MY_DATE   OLD_DAY_OF_WEEK DAY DAY_OF_WEEK
--------- --------------- --- -----------
26-MAR-12               2 MON           2
27-MAR-12               3 TUE           3
28-MAR-12               4 WED           4
29-MAR-12               5 THU           5
30-MAR-12               6 FRI           6
31-MAR-12               0 SAT           0
01-APR-12               1 SUN           1
02-APR-12               2 MON           2
03-APR-12               3 TUE           3
04-APR-12               4 WED           4
05-APR-12               5 THU           5
06-APR-12               6 FRI           6
07-APR-12               0 SAT           0
08-APR-12               1 SUN           1
09-APR-12               2 MON           2
10-APR-12               3 TUE           3
11-APR-12               4 WED           4
12-APR-12               5 THU           5
13-APR-12               6 FRI           6
14-APR-12               0 SAT           0

BANGLADESH:

alter session set nls_territory=bangladesh;

SELECT
  TO_DATE('03/26/2012','MM/DD/YYYY')+(LEVEL-1) MY_DATE,
  MOD(TO_CHAR(TO_DATE('03/26/2012','MM/DD/YYYY')+(LEVEL-1), 'D'),7) AS OLD_DAY_OF_WEEK,
  TO_CHAR(TO_DATE('03/26/2012','MM/DD/YYYY')+(LEVEL-1), 'DY', 'nls_date_language=american') AS DAY,
  DECODE(TO_CHAR(TO_DATE('03/26/2012','MM/DD/YYYY')+(LEVEL-1), 'DY', 'nls_date_language=american'),
    'MON',2,
    'TUE',3,
    'WED',4,
    'THU',5,
    'FRI',6,
    'SAT',0,
    'SUN',1) AS DAY_OF_WEEK
FROM
  DUAL
CONNECT BY
  LEVEL <= (TO_DATE('04/14/2012','MM/DD/YYYY') - TO_DATE('03/26/2012','MM/DD/YYYY'))+1;
 
MY_DATE    OLD_DAY_OF_WEEK DAY DAY_OF_WEEK
---------- --------------- --- -----------
26-03-2012               4 MON           2
27-03-2012               5 TUE           3
28-03-2012               6 WED           4
29-03-2012               0 THU           5
30-03-2012               1 FRI           6
31-03-2012               2 SAT           0
01-04-2012               3 SUN           1
02-04-2012               4 MON           2
03-04-2012               5 TUE           3
04-04-2012               6 WED           4
05-04-2012               0 THU           5
06-04-2012               1 FRI           6
07-04-2012               2 SAT           0
08-04-2012               3 SUN           1
09-04-2012               4 MON           2
10-04-2012               5 TUE           3
11-04-2012               6 WED           4
12-04-2012               0 THU           5
13-04-2012               1 FRI           6
14-04-2012               2 SAT           0

The OLD_DAY_OF_WEEK and DAY columns, of course, could be removed from the above SQL statements.

By: Timo Raitalaakso

Timo Raitalaakso — Thu, 12 Apr 2012 07:45:16 +0000

TO_CHAR(..,’D') depends on your client session nls settings. Try following with different client session nls_territory.

select dt
, to_char(dt,’day’) day
, MOD(TO_CHAR(dt, ‘D’),7)
, MOD(dt-trunc(dt,’IW’)+1,7) dn
from (
select TO_DATE(’03/26/2012′,’MM/DD/YYYY’)+(LEVEL-1) dt
from dual
connect by level<8
);

alter session set nls_territory=finland;

alter session set nls_territory=america;

alter session set nls_territory=bangladesh;

NLS_DATE_TERRITORY would be nice to have as a parameter option in to_char(datetime).

Comments on: Reproducing a Canned Report using a Single SQL Statement

By: Log Buffer #267, A Carnival of the Vanities for DBAs | The Pythian Blog

By: Charles Hooper

By: Timo Raitalaakso