how to convert date into month number?

Question

I have a column Month in my table. The month name and date are stored in this month column like

Month    
01-JAN-12 
02-FEB-12 
         


        

Answer 1

Totally agree regarding writing a case when Oracle offers built-in functionality:

SELECT EXTRACT(MONTH FROM DATE '2012-03-15') FROM DUAL;

SELECT EXTRACT(MONTH FROM TO_DATE('01-JAN-12', 'DD-MON-RR')) month_to_number FROM DUAL;

select to_number(to_char(to_date('01-JAN-12','dd-mon-yy'),'mm')) month_to_number from     dual;

select to_number(to_char(trunc(sysdate), 'mm')) month_to_number from dual;