GET_FORMAT() Examples

In MySQL, you can use the GET_FORMAT() function to return a format string for the provided arguments. This can be useful when you need to provide a format string to another function, such as DATE_FORMAT() or STR_TO_DATE().

Syntax

The official syntax goes like this:

GET_FORMAT({DATE|TIME|DATETIME}, {'EUR'|'USA'|'JIS'|'ISO'|'INTERNAL'})

Example 1 – Basic Usage

Here’s an example to demonstrate how it works.

SELECT GET_FORMAT(DATE,'USA');

Result:

+------------------------+
| GET_FORMAT(DATE,'USA') |
+------------------------+
| %m.%d.%Y               |
+------------------------+

So this example returns the format string for USA. We can now take that format string and use it in various date formatting functions.

Like this:

SELECT DATE_FORMAT('2020-03-07', '%m.%d.%Y') AS 'Formatted';

Result:

+------------+
| Formatted  |
+------------+
| 03.07.2020 |
+------------+

However, we can also pass this function directly to the DATE_FORMAT() function. Like this:

SELECT DATE_FORMAT('2020-03-07', GET_FORMAT(DATE,'USA')) AS 'Formatted';

Result:

+------------+
| Formatted  |
+------------+
| 03.07.2020 |
+------------+

So this saves us from having to remember what format string to use – GET_FORMAT() does that for us.

Example 2 – Date Values

This example lists out all the variations of the second argument when the first argument is DATE.

SELECT 
    GET_FORMAT(DATE,'USA') AS 'USA',
    GET_FORMAT(DATE,'JIS') AS 'JIS',
    GET_FORMAT(DATE,'ISO') AS 'ISO',
    GET_FORMAT(DATE,'EUR') AS 'EUR',
    GET_FORMAT(DATE,'INTERNAL') AS 'INTERNAL';

Result:

+----------+----------+----------+----------+----------+
| USA      | JIS      | ISO      | EUR      | INTERNAL |
+----------+----------+----------+----------+----------+
| %m.%d.%Y | %Y-%m-%d | %Y-%m-%d | %d.%m.%Y | %Y%m%d   |
+----------+----------+----------+----------+----------+

Example 3 – Datetime Values

This example lists out all the variations of the second argument when the first argument is DATETIME.

SELECT 
    GET_FORMAT(DATETIME,'USA') AS 'USA',
    GET_FORMAT(DATETIME,'JIS') AS 'JIS',
    GET_FORMAT(DATETIME,'ISO') AS 'ISO',
    GET_FORMAT(DATETIME,'EUR') AS 'EUR',
    GET_FORMAT(DATETIME,'INTERNAL') AS 'INTERNAL';

Result:

+-------------------+-------------------+-------------------+-------------------+--------------+
| USA               | JIS               | ISO               | EUR               | INTERNAL     |
+-------------------+-------------------+-------------------+-------------------+--------------+
| %Y-%m-%d %H.%i.%s | %Y-%m-%d %H:%i:%s | %Y-%m-%d %H:%i:%s | %Y-%m-%d %H.%i.%s | %Y%m%d%H%i%s |
+-------------------+-------------------+-------------------+-------------------+--------------+

Example 4 – Time Values

This example lists out all the variations of the second argument when the first argument is TIME.

SELECT 
    GET_FORMAT(TIME,'USA') AS 'USA',
    GET_FORMAT(TIME,'JIS') AS 'JIS',
    GET_FORMAT(TIME,'ISO') AS 'ISO',
    GET_FORMAT(TIME,'EUR') AS 'EUR',
    GET_FORMAT(TIME,'INTERNAL') AS 'INTERNAL';

Result:

+-------------+----------+----------+----------+----------+
| USA         | JIS      | ISO      | EUR      | INTERNAL |
+-------------+----------+----------+----------+----------+
| %h:%i:%s %p | %H:%i:%s | %H:%i:%s | %H.%i.%s | %H%i%s   |
+-------------+----------+----------+----------+----------+

Unit Specifiers

The returned format string can be made up of any combination of the following specifiers.

Specifier	Description
`%a`	Abbreviated weekday name (`Sun`..`Sat`)
`%b`	Abbreviated month name (`Jan`..`Dec`)
`%c`	Month, numeric (`0`..`12`)
`%D`	Day of the month with English suffix (`0th`, `1st`, `2nd`, `3rd`, …)
`%d`	Day of the month, numeric (`00`..`31`)
`%e`	Day of the month, numeric (`0`..`31`)
`%f`	Microseconds (`000000`..`999999`)
`%H`	Hour (`00`..`23`)
`%h`	Hour (`01`..`12`)
`%I`	Hour (`01`..`12`)
`%i`	Minutes, numeric (`00`..`59`)
`%j`	Day of year (`001`..`366`)
`%k`	Hour (`0`..`23`)
`%l`	Hour (`1`..`12`)
`%M`	Month name (`January`..`December`)
`%m`	Month, numeric (`00`..`12`)
`%p`	`AM` or `PM`
`%r`	Time, 12-hour (`hh:mm:ss` followed by `AM` or `PM`)
`%S`	Seconds (`00`..`59`)
`%s`	Seconds (`00`..`59`)
`%T`	Time, 24-hour (`hh:mm:ss`)
`%U`	Week (`00`..`53`), where Sunday is the first day of the week; `WEEK()` mode 0
`%u`	Week (`00`..`53`), where Monday is the first day of the week; `WEEK()` mode 1
`%V`	Week (`01`..`53`), where Sunday is the first day of the week; `WEEK()` mode 2; used with `%X`
`%v`	Week (`01`..`53`), where Monday is the first day of the week; `WEEK()` mode 3; used with `%x`
`%W`	Weekday name (`Sunday`..`Saturday`)
`%w`	Day of the week (`0`=Sunday..`6`=Saturday)
`%X`	Year for the week where Sunday is the first day of the week, numeric, four digits; used with `%V`
`%x`	Year for the week, where Monday is the first day of the week, numeric, four digits; used with `%v`
`%Y`	Year, numeric, four digits
`%y`	Year, numeric (two digits)
`%%`	A literal `%` character
`%x`	`x`, for any “`x`” not listed above