byte(expr [, len])

any

byte

Converts the expression to byte binary data. If the optional length argument is specified, the function returns the leftmost len bytes. Len must be a positive integer value that does not exceed the length of the expr argument.

c(expr [, len])

any

c

Converts argument to c string. If the optional length argument is specified, the function returns the leftmost len characters. Len must be a positive integer value that does not exceed the length of the expr string.

char(expr [, len])

any

char

Converts argument to char string. If the optional length argument is specified, the function returns the leftmost len characters. Len must be a positive integer value that does not exceed the length of the expr string.

date(expr)

c, text, char, varchar

date

Converts a c, char, varchar or text string to internal date representation.

decimal(expr [,precision[,scale]])

any except date

decimal

Converts any numeric expression to a decimal value. If scale (number of decimal digits) is omitted, the scale of the result is 0. If precision (total number of digits) is omitted, the precision of the result is determined by the data type of the operand, as follows:

Operand Default
Datatype Precision

smallint 5
integer1 5
integer 11
float 15
float4 15
decimal 15
money 15

Decimal overflow occurs if the result contains more digits to the left of the decimal point than the specified or default precision and scale can accommodate.

dow(expr)

date

c

Converts an absolute date into its day of week (for example, 'Mon,' 'Tue'). The result length is 3.

float4(expr)

c, char, varchar, text, float, money, decimal, integer1, smallint, integer

float4

Converts the specified expression to float4.

float8(expr)

c, char, varchar, text, float, money, decimal, integer1, smallint, integer

float

Converts the specified expression to float.

hex(expr)

varchar, char, c, text

varchar

Returns the hexadecimal representation of the argument string. The length of the result is twice the length of the argument, because the hexadecimal equivalent of each character requires two bytes. For example, hex('A') returns '61' (ASCII) or 'C1' (EBCDIC).

int1(expr)

c, char, varchar, text, float, money, decimal, integer1, smallint, integer

integer1

Converts the specified expression to integer1. Decimal and floating-point values are truncated. Numeric overflow will occur if the integer portion of a floating-point or decimal value is too large to be returned in the requested format.

int2(expr)

c, char, varchar, text, float, money, decimal, integer1, smallint, integer

smallint

Converts the specified expression to smallint. Decimal and floating-point values are truncated. Numeric overflow will occur if the integer portion of a floating-point or decimal value is too large to be returned in the requested format.

int4(expr)

c, char, varchar, text, float, money, decimal, integer1, smallint, integer

integer

Converts the specified expression to integer. Decimal and floating-point values are truncated. Numeric overflow will occur if the integer portion of a floating-point or decimal value is too large to be returned in the requested format.

long_byte
(expr)

any

long byte

Converts the expression to long byte binary data.

long_varchar (expr)

any

long varchar

Converts the expression to a long varchar.

money(expr)

c, char, varchar,
text, float, money, decimal,
integer1,
smallint,
integer

money

Converts the specified expression to internal money representation. Rounds floating-point and decimal values, if necessary.

nchar(expr [, len])

any

nchar

Converts argument to nchar unicode string. If the optional length argument is specified, the function returns the leftmost len characters. Len must be a positive integer value that does not exceed the length of the expr string.

nvarchar(expr [, len])

any

nvarchar

Converts argument to nvarchar unicode string. If the optional length argument is specified, the function returns the leftmost len characters. Len must be a positive integer value that does not exceed the length of the expr string.

long_varchar (expr)

c, char, varchar, text, long varchar, long byte

long varchar

Converts the expression to a long varchar.

object_key(expr)

varchar, char, c, text

object_key

Converts the operand to an object_key.

table_key(expr)

varchar, char, c, text

table_key

Converts the operand to a table_key.

text(expr [, len])

any

text

Converts argument to text string. If the optional length argument is specified, the function returns the leftmost len characters. Len must be a positive integer value that does not exceed the length of the expr string.

unhex(expr)

varchar, c, text

varchar

Returns the opposite of the hex function. For example, unhex(x'61626320') returns 'abc' and unhex(x'01204161') returns '\001Aa'.

Exceptions can occur when a "c" data type suppresses the display of certain stored characters, or when the output data type differs from the input type.

 

 

 

Typically one character is generated for every two hex digits being converted to a printable character. If the hex digit pair being converted does not translate to a printable character, then the value is converted to a backslash (\), followed by the numeric value of the hex digit pair as a three-digit octal value.

varbyte(expr [, len])

any

byte varying

Converts the expression to byte varying binary data. If the optional length argument is specified, the function returns the leftmost len bytes. Len must be a positive integer value that does not exceed the length of the expr argument.

varchar(expr [, len])

any

varchar

Converts argument to varchar string. If the optional length argument is specified, the function returns the leftmost len characters. Len must be a positive integer value that does not exceed the length of the expr string.

byte

Length of operand

byte varying

Length of operand

c

Length of operand

char

Length of operand

date

25 characters

decimal

Depends on precision and scale of column

float & float4

11 characters; 12 characters on IEEE computers

integer1 (smallint)

6 characters

integer

6 characters

integer4

13 characters

long byte

Length of operand

long varchar

Length of operand

money

20 characters

text

Length of operand

varchar

Length of operand