SQL TO_TIMESTAMP

TO_DATE's counterpart for timestamps — parses text into a full date-and-time value using an explicit format.

What & Why

TO_TIMESTAMP(text, format) works exactly like TO_DATE, but produces a full TIMESTAMP — parsing time-of-day components (hours, minutes, seconds) in addition to the date.

See How It Works

BUSINESS QUESTION

Growth checks that a user's stored signup moment survives an epoch round trip.

id	created_at	country	channel	plan	activated_at	churned_at
101	2024-01-15 09:10:00+00	US	organic	pro	2024-01-16 14:25:00+00	NULL
102	2024-02-10 11:05:00+00	CA	paid	free	NULL	2024-03-20 10:00:00+00
103	2024-03-12 16:35:00+00	GB	referral	pro	2024-03-13 08:15:00+00	NULL
104	2024-04-01 13:20:00+00	US	organic	free	2024-04-03 12:00:00+00	NULL

EXAMPLE QUERY

SELECT
  id AS user_id,
  EXTRACT(EPOCH FROM created_at) AS epoch_seconds,
  TO_TIMESTAMP(EXTRACT(EPOCH FROM created_at)) AS parsed_created_at
FROM growth.users
ORDER BY user_id;

RESULT — exact output from the displayed Queryflo rows

user_id	epoch_seconds	parsed_created_at
101	1705309800.000000	2024-01-15 09:10:00+00
102	1707563100.000000	2024-02-10 11:05:00+00
103	1710261300.000000	2024-03-12 16:35:00+00
104	1711977600.000000	2024-04-01 13:20:00+00

The epoch round trip reproduces every displayed signup moment.

Intermediate business practice