My SQL has a special function that allows the developer to format the date in any way they wish by specifying a sequence of format strings. A string is composed of the percentage symbol ‘%‘ followed by a letter that signifies how you wish to display part of the date. These are some of the more common strings to use:
| String | Displays | Example |
| %d | The numeric day of the month | 01….10….17….24 etc |
| %D | The day of the month with a suffix | 1st, 2nd, 3rd…. etc |
| %m | The numeric month | 01….04….08….11 etc |
| %M | The Month name | January….April….August etc |
| %b | The Abbreviated Month Name | Jan….Apr….Aug….Nov etc |
| %y | Two digit year | 98, 99, 00, 01, 02, 03 etc |
| %Y | Four digit year | 1998, 2000, 2002, 2003 etc |
| %W | Weekday name | Monday…. Wednesday….Friday etc |
| %a | Abbreviated Weekday name | Mon….Wed….Fri etc |
| %H | Hour (24 hour clock) | 07….11….16….23 etc |
| %h | Hour (12 hour clock) | 07….11….04….11 etc |
| %p | AM or PM | AM….PM |
| %i | Minutes | 01….16….36….49 etc |
| %s | Seconds | 01….16….36….49 etc |
You can use it in your mysql queries like this:
