How to Get the Time from a String in SQL

How to Get the Time from a String in SQL

Do you need to extract the time from a string in SQL? If so, you're in luck! SQL has a handy way of extracting the time from a string that can help you get the answer you need.

The Solution

The solution is to use the EXTRACT function. This function takes two arguments, the first being the part of the string you want to extract (in this case, the time) and the second being the format of the string. For example, if you wanted to extract the time from a string in the format YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM:SS, you would use the following query:

SELECT EXTRACT(TIME FROM '2020-01-01 12:00:00')

Examples

Let's look at a few examples of how this function can be used. Suppose you have a table called events with the following data:

name      start_time
------------------------
Party     2020-01-01 12:00:00
Meeting   2020-01-02 15:30:00
Lunch     2020-01-03 11:45:00

If you wanted to extract the time from the start_time column, you would use the following query:

SELECT EXTRACT(TIME FROM start_time) FROM events;

This query would return the results 12:00:00, 15:30:00, and 11:45:00, respectively.

Additional Info

The EXTRACT function is supported by most major databases, including MySQL, PostgreSQL, and SQL Server. However, the syntax may vary slightly depending on the database you are using. For more information, check out the documentation for your particular database. 🤓