The FORMAT() Function

The FORMAT() function is used to format how a field is to be displayed.

SQL FORMAT() Syntax
SELECT FORMAT(column_name,format) FROM table_name
Parameter
Description
column_name
Required. The field to be formatted.
format
Required. Specifies the format.

SQL FORMAT() Example
We have the following "Products" table:
Prod_Id
ProductName
Unit
UnitPrice
1
Jarlsberg
1000 g
10.45
2
Mascarpone
1000 g
32.56
3
Gorgonzola
1000 g
15.67
Now we want to display the products and prices per today's date (with today's date displayed in the following format "YYYY-MM-DD").
We use the following SELECT statement:
SELECT ProductName, UnitPrice, FORMAT(Now(),'YYYY-MM-DD') as PerDateFROM Products
The result-set will look like this:
ProductName
UnitPrice
PerDate
Jarlsberg
10.45
2008-10-07
Mascarpone
32.56
2008-10-07
Gorgonzola
15.67
2008-10-07