Cast conversions

You can use cast(<value> as <datatype>) to cast a data type from one type to another type. For example, you can convert any numeric data type (byteint, smallint, int, bigint, numeric/decimal, float, double) to any other numeric data type. The <value> field can be a column or an expression.

In addition to the cast function, more data type conversions are offered, as described in the following table.

Table 1. Data type conversions
Data type	Function
numeric to a string	to_char(numeric,text)
real or double precision to a string	to_char(double precisions, text)
timestamp to a string	to_char(timestamp,text)
string to date	to_date(text,template)
string to numeric	to_number(text,template)
string to timestamp	to_timestamp(text,text)

You can also convert from one date, time, or timestamp to another. For example:

NZSQL nzdw -a -x <  x.sql

To convert a timestamp to a date, use CAST. For example:

CAST(<timestamp_value> AS DATE);