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Conversion functions

CAST , ::¶

Converts a value of one data type into another data type. The semantics of CAST are the same as the semantics of the corresponding TO_ datatype conversion functions. If the cast is not possible, an error is raised. For more details, see the individual TO_ datatype conversion functions. For more information about data type conversion and the TO_ datatype conversion functions, see Data type conversion.

The :: operator provides alternative syntax for CAST.

See also:

TRY_CAST

Syntax¶

CAST( <source_expr> AS <target_data_type> )
  [ RENAME FIELDS | ADD FIELDS ]

<source_expr> :: <target_data_type>
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Arguments¶

source_expr

Expression of any supported data type to be converted into a different data type.

target_data_type

The data type to which to convert the expression. If the data type supports additional properties, such as precision and scale (for numbers/decimals), the properties can be included.

RENAME FIELDS

For structured OBJECTs, specifies that you want to change the OBJECT to use different key-value pairs. The values in the original object are copied to the new key-value pairs in the order in which they appear.

For an example, see Example: Changing the key names in an OBJECT.

ADD FIELDS

For structured OBJECTs, specifies that you want to add key-value pairs to the OBJECT.

For an example, see Example: Adding keys to an OBJECT.

The values for the newly added keys will be set to NULL. If you want to assign a value to these keys, call the OBJECT_INSERT function instead.

Usage notes¶

  • If the scale is not sufficient to hold the input value, the function rounds the value.

  • If the precision is not sufficient to hold the input value, the function raises an error.

  • When numeric columns are explicitly cast to forms of the integer data type during a data unload to Parquet files, the data type of these columns in the Parquet files is INT. For more information, see Explicitly converting numeric columns to Parquet data types.

  • When you use the :: alternative syntax, you cannot specify the RENAME FIELDS or ADD FIELDS arguments.

Examples¶

The CAST examples use the data in the following table:

CREATE OR REPLACE TABLE test_data_type_conversion (
  varchar_value VARCHAR,
  number_value NUMBER(5, 4),
  timestamp_value TIMESTAMP);

INSERT INTO test_data_type_conversion VALUES (
  '9.8765',
  1.2345,
  '2024-05-09 14:32:29.135 -0700');

SELECT * FROM test_data_type_conversion;
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+---------------+--------------+-------------------------+
| VARCHAR_VALUE | NUMBER_VALUE | TIMESTAMP_VALUE         |
|---------------+--------------+-------------------------|
| 9.8765        |       1.2345 | 2024-05-09 14:32:29.135 |
+---------------+--------------+-------------------------+

The examples use the SYSTEM$TYPEOF function to show the data type of the converted value.

Convert a string to a number with specified scale (2):

SELECT CAST(varchar_value AS NUMBER(5,2)) AS varchar_to_number1,
       SYSTEM$TYPEOF(varchar_to_number1) AS data_type
  FROM test_data_type_conversion;
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+--------------------+------------------+
| VARCHAR_TO_NUMBER1 | DATA_TYPE        |
|--------------------+------------------|
|               9.88 | NUMBER(5,2)[SB4] |
+--------------------+------------------+

Convert the same string to a number with scale 5, using the :: notation:

SELECT varchar_value::NUMBER(6,5) AS varchar_to_number2,
       SYSTEM$TYPEOF(varchar_to_number2) AS data_type
  FROM test_data_type_conversion;
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+--------------------+------------------+
| VARCHAR_TO_NUMBER2 | DATA_TYPE        |
|--------------------+------------------|
|            9.87650 | NUMBER(6,5)[SB4] |
+--------------------+------------------+

Convert a number to an integer. For an integer, precision and scale cannot be specified, so the default is always NUMBER(38, 0).

SELECT CAST(number_value AS INTEGER) AS number_to_integer,
       SYSTEM$TYPEOF(number_to_integer) AS data_type
  FROM test_data_type_conversion;
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+-------------------+-------------------+
| NUMBER_TO_INTEGER | DATA_TYPE         |
|-------------------+-------------------|
|                 1 | NUMBER(38,0)[SB1] |
+-------------------+-------------------+

Convert a number to a string:

SELECT CAST(number_value AS VARCHAR) AS number_to_varchar,
       SYSTEM$TYPEOF(number_to_varchar) AS data_type
  FROM test_data_type_conversion;
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+-------------------+------------------------+
| NUMBER_TO_VARCHAR | DATA_TYPE              |
|-------------------+------------------------|
| 1.2345            | VARCHAR(16777216)[LOB] |
+-------------------+------------------------+

Convert a timestamp to a date:

SELECT CAST(timestamp_value AS DATE) AS timestamp_to_date,
       SYSTEM$TYPEOF(timestamp_to_date) AS data_type
  FROM test_data_type_conversion;
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+-------------------+-----------+
| TIMESTAMP_TO_DATE | DATA_TYPE |
|-------------------+-----------|
| 2024-05-09        | DATE[SB4] |
+-------------------+-----------+
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