IBM Support

Can I use the SUM column function on a character field?

Question & Answer


Question

I have a sizing field consisting of numeric data imbedded as part of a character field in SQL/DS. I can select the sizing field using the SUBSTR function, but I cannot summarize the sizings in that column because DB2® QMF says it is character data. Is there a way I can use the select statement to convert the character data to numeric data? I tried the REXX functions C2D and VALUE, but neither worked.

[{"Product":{"code":"SS9UMF","label":"DB2 Query Management Facility"},"Business Unit":{"code":"BU059","label":"IBM Software w\/o TPS"},"Component":"QMF for TSO\/CICS","Platform":[{"code":"PF037","label":"z\/VM"},{"code":"PF035","label":"z\/OS"}],"Version":"6.1;7.1;7.2;8.1","Edition":"","Line of Business":{"code":"LOB10","label":"Data and AI"}},{"Product":{"code":"SS9UMF","label":"DB2 Query Management Facility"},"Business Unit":{"code":"BU059","label":"IBM Software w\/o TPS"},"Component":"QMF for VM","Platform":[{"code":"PF037","label":"z\/VM"}],"Version":"Version Independent","Edition":"","Line of Business":{"code":"LOB10","label":"Data and AI"}}]

Log InLog in to view more of this document

This document has the abstract of a technical article that is available to authorized users once you have logged on. Please use Log in button above to access the full document. After log in, if you do not have the right authorization for this document, there will be instructions on what to do next.

Document Information

Modified date:
01 May 2025

UID

swg21006754