SQL Language Guide : 4. Elements of SQL Statements : Predicates in SQL : IS DECIMAL Predicate
 
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IS DECIMAL Predicate
Use IS DECIMAL to determine if a particular result can be assigned to a column of the given data type. It is especially useful for cleaning data or validating data input.
The IS DECIMAL predicate takes the following form:
IS [NOT] DECIMAL
For example:
x IS DECIMAL
is true if x is decimal in form. If x is a string, then this is true if the value is a number that can be stored as a decimal data type with no loss of accuracy. Any leading or trailing white space is ignored. If x is a FLOAT value then this predicate is true only if the number can be stored in a decimal column without loss of precision of overflow.
The following predicates are all true:
' +12345 ' IS DECIMAL
'1.000000' IS DECIMAL
1.0e10 IS DECIMAL
DECIMAL('1234567890123456789012345', 25,0) IS DECIMAL
'number' IS NOT DECIMAL
'123 456' IS NOT DECIMAL
'1.0e40' IS NOT DECIMAL
If all values in a column pass this predicate, then the whole column can be coerced into a decimal column.