cast

Converts "expression" to a specified data type. Some data types allow for a length and precision to be specified. Make sure that the target is of the appropriate type and size. The following can be used for "datatype_specification": character, varchar, char, numeric, decimal, integer, bigint, smallint, real, float, date, time, timestamp, time with time zone, timestamp with time zone, and interval. When type casting to an interval type, one of the following interval qualifiers must be specified: year, month, or year to month for the year-to-month interval datatype; day, hour, minute, second, day to hour, day to minute, day to second, hour to minute, hour to second, or minute to second for the day-to-second interval datatype. Notes: When you convert a value of type timestamp to type date, the time portion of the timestamp value is ignored. When you convert a value of type timestamp to type time, the date portion of the timestamp is ignored. When you convert a value of type date to type timestamp, the time components of the timestamp are set to zero. When you convert a value of type time to type timestamp, the date component is set to the current system date. It is invalid to convert one interval datatype to the other (for instance because the number of days in a month is variable). Note that you can specify the number of digits for the leading qualifier only, i.e. YEAR(4) TO MONTH, DAY(5). Errors will be reported if the target type and size are not compatible with the source type and size.

Syntax

cast ( expression , datatype_specification )

Example 1

cast ( '123' , integer )

Result

123

Example 2

cast ( 12345 , varchar ( 10 ) )

Result

a string containing 12345