The INTERPRET function returns the first operand interpreted as the specified
data-type.
data-type
built-in-type
ccsid-clause
string-expression
An expression that returns a built-in binary string or character FOR BIT DATA string that contains the internal IBM® i representation of data-type. The length of
string-expression must follow the rules in Table 1.
data-type
Specifies the data type of the result. For a description of data-type, see CREATE TABLE.
If the CCSID attribute is not specified for a character or graphic string data type:
If data-type is CHAR, VARCHAR, or CLOB:
If FOR BIT DATA is specified, a CCSID of 65535 is used.
If FOR MIXED DATA is specified, the mixed-byte CCSID associated with the default CCSID of the
job is used.
Otherwise, the single-byte CCSID associated with the default CCSID of the job is used.
If data-type is GRAPHIC, VARGRAPHIC, or DBCLOB, CCSID 1200 is used.
Table 1. Data type interpretation
rules
Result data type
Required string-expression length in bytes
Other considerations
SMALLINT
2
INTEGER
4
BIGINT
8
DECIMAL(p,s)
(p/2) + 1
NUMERIC(p,s)
p
FLOAT (single precision)
4
FLOAT (double precision)
8
DECFLOAT(16)
8
DECFLOAT(34)
16
CHAR(n)
0 to n
If the length of string-expression is less than n,
the result is padded on the right with blanks.
VARCHAR(n)
2 to a maximum of n + 2
The length represented by the first 2 bytes of
string-expression cannot exceed n and must not be greater than the length of
string-expression - 2.
CLOB(n)
4 to a maximum of n + 4
The length represented by the first 4 bytes of
string-expression cannot exceed n and must not be greater than the length of
string-expression - 4.
GRAPHIC(n)
0 to 2n
The length of string-expression must be divisible by 2. If
the length of string-expression is less than 2n, the result is padded on the right
with blanks.
VARGRAPHIC(n)
2 to a maximum of 2n + 2
The length of string-expression must be divisible by 2.
The length represented by the first 2 bytes of string-expression cannot exceed n and
must not be greater than the length of (string-expression - 2) / 2.
DBCLOB(n)
4 to a maximum of 2n + 4
The length of string-expression must be divisible by 2.
The length represented by the first 4 bytes of string-expression cannot exceed n and
must not be greater than the length of (string-expression - 4) / 2.
BINARY(n)
0 to n
If the length of string-expression is less than n,
the result is padded on the right with hexadecimal zeros.
VARBINARY(n)
2 to a maximum of n + 2
The length represented by the first 2 bytes of
string-expression cannot exceed n and must not be greater than the length of
string-expression - 2.
BLOB(n)
4 to a maximum of n + 4
The length represented by the first 4 bytes of
string-expression cannot exceed n and must not be greater than the length of
string-expression - 4.
DATE
4
TIME
3
TIMESTAMP(p)
when p is 0, 19; otherwise 20+p
XML
4 to 2G
The length represented by the first 4 bytes of
string-expression must not be greater than the length of string-expression -
4.
Example
Table 2.
Function invocation
Result value
INTERPRET(BX'00000011' AS INTEGER)
17
INTERPRET(BX'12345F' AS DECIMAL(5,2))
123.45
INTERPRET(BX'00258541' AS DATE)
2020-04-05
INTERPRET(BX'616263' AS CHAR(3) CCSID 37)
/ÃÄ
INTERPRET(BX'616263' AS CHAR(3) CCSID 1208)
abc
INTERPRET(BX'0005C1C2C3C4C5' AS VARCHAR(5))
ABCDE
INTERPRET(BX'0003C1C2C3C4C5' AS VARCHAR(5))
ABC
INTERPRET(BX'0007C1C2C3C4C5' AS VARCHAR(7))
Error
INTERPRET(BX'00000003003100320033' AS DBCLOB(3) CCSID 1200)
