Chapter 4: SQL Language Elements
4.9.2.17 CONVERT function (extension)
Syntax
CONVERT ( 'data_type[(length)]', expression )
Description
The scalar function CONVERT converts an expression to another data type. The first argument is the target data type. The second argument is the expression to be converted to that type.
The length option for the data_type argument specifies the length for conversions to CHAR and VARCHAR data types. If omitted, the default is 30 bytes.
If the expression evaluates to null, the result of the function is null.
The CONVERT function syntax is similar to but not compatible with the ODBC CONVERT function. Enclose the function in the ODBC escape clause {fn }, to specify ODBC-compliant syntax. See the CONVERT function (ODBC compatible) topic for more information.
Example
The following SQL example converts an integer field from a catalog table to a character string:
SELECT CONVERT('CHAR', fld), fld FROM systpe.syscalctable;
CONVERT(CHAR,FLD) FLD
----------------- ---
100 100
1 record selected
SELECT CONVERT('CHAR(35)', fld), fld
FROM systpe.syscalctable;
CONVERT(CHAR(35),FLD) FLD
--------------------- ---
100 100
1 record selected