try_to_timestamp function
Applies to: 
Databricks SQL Databricks Runtime 11.3 LTS and above
Returns expr cast to a timestamp using an optional formatting, or NULL if the cast fails.
Syntax
try_to_timestamp(expr [, fmt] )
Arguments
expr: A STRING expression representing a timestamp.- fmt: An optional format STRING expression.
Returns
A TIMESTAMP.
If fmt is supplied, it must conform with Datetime patterns.
If fmt is not supplied, the function is a synonym for cast(expr AS TIMESTAMP).
If fmt is malformed, the function raises an error.
If expr cannot be transformed into a timestamp using fmt, the function returns NULL.
Examples
> SELECT try_to_timestamp('2016-12-31 00:12:00');
2016-12-31 00:12:00
> SELECT try_to_timestamp('2016-12-31', 'yyyy-MM-dd');
2016-12-31 00:00:00
> SELECT try_to_timestamp('2016-12-32', 'yyyy-MM-dd');
NULL
> SELECT to_timestamp('2016-12-32', 'yyyy-MM-dd');
Error: CANNOT_PARSE_TIMESTAMP