# How to Extract DOW in PostgreSQL?

> In PostgreSQL, the EXTRACT() and DATE_PART() functions are used to extract a DOW(an acronym for Day of Week) from a date or timestamp.

In PostgreSQL, built-in functions like **EXTRACT()** and **DATE_PART()** are used to extract a DOW(an acronym for Day of Week) from a date or timestamp. Using these two functions, you can extract any part from a date or timestamp, such as a day, month, year, minute, etc. However, in this post, we will only focus on extracting the day of the week from the given date or timestamp.

This tutorial will show you how to use PostgreSQL's built-in date functions to extract the day of the week (DOW) from a date field. So, let’s start!

 **How to Extract DOW in Postgres Using the EXTRACT() Function?**

Use the following syntax to extract the DOW from a date field:
    
    
    EXTRACT(DOW FROM source);

In place of the “source” parameter, specify the date field from which you want to extract the day of the week.

 **Note:** Extracting the day of the week using the EXTRACT() function will retrieve a value between 0-6. Here, the number 0 means Sunday, 1 means Monday, and so on.

 **Example 1: How to Extract a DOW From the Current Date Using EXTRACT() Function?**

Let’s pass “ **DOW** ” as the first argument and the “ **CURRENT_DATE** ” function as the second argument to the **EXTRACT()** function:
    
    
    SELECT EXTRACT('DOW' FROM CURRENT_DATE);

The **EXTRACT()** function retrieves “3”, indicating that the current day of the week is “Wednesday”.

 **Example 2: How to Extract a DOW From the Date Field Using EXTRACT() Function?**

In this example, we will use the EXTRACT() function to pull out the DOW from a specific date field:
    
    
    SELECT EXTRACT('DOW' FROM DATE '2022-12-12');

The output snippet shows that the day of the week in the specified date field is “ **Monday** ”.

 **How to Extract DOW in Postgres Using the DATE_PART() Function?**

Postgres offers another convenient date function named DATE_PART() that is used to extract the day of the week from the given date field:
    
    
    DATE_PART(DOW, source);

In place of the “source” parameter, specify the date field from which you want to extract the day of the week.

 **Example 1: How to Extract a DOW From the Current Date Using DATE_PART() Function?**

In this example, we will pass “ **DOW** ” as the first argument and the “ **NOW()** ” function as the second argument to the **DATE_PART()** function:
    
    
    SELECT DATE_PART('DOW', NOW());

The output shows “3”, which means the current day of the week is “Wednesday”.

 **Example 2: How to Extract a DOW From the Date Field Using DATE_PART() Function?**

Executing the below line of code will extract the DOW from a specific date field:
    
    
    SELECT DATE_PART('DOW', DATE '2022-01-15');

The output snippet shows that the DATE_PART() function retrieves “6”, indicating that the day of the week in the given date field is “Saturday”.

 **Example 3: How to Extract a DOW From the Table’s Data?**

We have already created a table named “article_information”, whose date is shown in the following snippet:
    
    
    SELECT * FROM article_information;

In this example, we will use the **EXTRACT()** and **DATE_PART()** functions side-by-side to extract the day of the week from the “ **p_date** ” column:
    
    
    SELECT p_date, EXTRACT(DOW FROM p_date), DATE_PART('DOW', p_date)
    FROM article_information;

The output authenticates the working of the EXTRACT() and DATE_PART() functions.

 **Conclusion**

In PostgreSQL, the **EXTRACT()** and **DATE_PART()** functions are used to extract a DOW(an acronym for Day of Week) from a date or timestamp. Both these functions accept two arguments: a “unit” argument like a month, day, year, etc., and a “date field” from which you want to extract the day of the week. Through examples, this write-up demonstrated how to extract DOW via Postgres’ **EXTRACT()** and **DATE_PART()** functions.

---
[View this page online](https://www.commandprompt.com/education/how-to-extract-dow-in-postgresql/)