SQL Error: ORA-01861: literal does not match format string 01861

ORA-01861: literal does not match format string

This happens because you have tried to enter a literal with a format string, but the length of the format string was not the same length as the literal.

You can overcome this issue by carrying out following alteration.

TO_DATE('1989-12-09','YYYY-MM-DD')

As a general rule, if you are using the TO_DATE function, TO_TIMESTAMP function, TO_CHAR function, and similar functions, make sure that the literal that you provide matches the format string that you've specified

The format you use for the date doesn't match to Oracle's default date format.

A default installation of Oracle Database sets the DEFAULT DATE FORMAT to dd-MMM-yyyy.

Either use the function TO_DATE(dateStr, formatStr) or simply use dd-MMM-yyyy date format model.

Try replacing the string literal for date '1989-12-09' with TO_DATE('1989-12-09','YYYY-MM-DD')

You can also change the date format for the session. This is useful, for example, in Perl DBI, where the to_date() function is not available:

ALTER SESSION SET NLS_DATE_FORMAT='YYYY-MM-DD'

You can permanently set the default nls_date_format as well:

ALTER SYSTEM SET NLS_DATE_FORMAT='YYYY-MM-DD'

In Perl DBI you can run these commands with the do() method:

$db->do("ALTER SESSION SET NLS_DATE_FORMAT='YYYY-MM-DD');

http://www.dba-oracle.com/t_dbi_interface1.htm https://community.oracle.com/thread/682596?start=15&tstart=0