how to convert weird varchar "time" to real time in mysql?
Solution 1
never mind, this works fine:
TIME_FORMAT(CONCAT(SUBSTRING(THE_TIME, 1,2), ':', SUBSTRING(THE_TIME, 3,4)), '%h%i')
Solution 2
What about this query?
SELECT TIME_FORMAT(STR_TO_DATE('2359', '%H%i'), '%h:%i %p');
Here is the result:
+------------------------------------------------------+ | TIME_FORMAT(STR_TO_DATE('2359', '%H%i'), '%h:%i %p') | +------------------------------------------------------+ | 11:59 PM | +------------------------------------------------------+
Solution 3
It looks like it performs as expected if seconds are included:
mysql> SELECT TIME_FORMAT(235900, '%h %i %s'); +---------------------------------+ | TIME_FORMAT(235900, '%h %i %s') | +---------------------------------+ | 0000 00 00 11 59 00 | +---------------------------------+ 1 row in set (0.00 sec)
I even dropped the quotes—it works with an integer just fine.
For confirmation it is doing the right thing:
mysql> SELECT TIME_FORMAT(235901, '%h %i %s'); +---------------------------------+ | TIME_FORMAT(235901, '%h %i %s') | +---------------------------------+ | 11 59 01 | +---------------------------------+ 1 row in set (0.00 sec)
I tried several combinations like 235960 236059 235999 and they all return NULL.
Solution 4
Using a table named test
with a column named string
and with values
2300
2100
1200
0430
0430
With query
select concat(time_format(concat(substring(string,-4,2),':',substring(string,3)),'%h:%i'),
case when string >= 1200 then ' PM' else ' AM' end)
from test;
You get,
11:00 PM
09:00 PM
12:00 PM
04:30 AM
04:30 AM
eviljack
Updated on June 05, 2022Comments
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eviljack almost 2 years
I have a time value being stored in a database as a varchar(4) and I need to convert it to real time.
for example, if the time is "23:59" I want 11:59PM returned.
The problem is that there is no ":" between the hours and minutes. So when I run this query
SELECT TIME_FORMAT('2359', '%h:%i'); -- 12:23, wtf??
However if I ran this:
SELECT TIME_FORMAT('23:59', '%h:%i'); -- returns 11:59 as expected.
So, to sum up: 1. the time is stored as a varchar(4) in the database. Example:
1200, 1201, 0153, 1364, 1923
- I want time returned as 12 hr time with a colon in it.
my brain hurts and this is prb much easier than I realize...
like this, but for mysql Convert varchar into datetime in SQL Server mysql 12 hr to 24 hr time conversion