SQL Server CAST() Function
Definition and Usage
The CAST() function converts a value (of any type) into a specified datatype.
Tip: Also look at the CONVERT() function.
Syntax
CAST(expression
AS datatype(length))
Parameter Values
Value | Description |
---|---|
expression | Required. The value to convert |
datatype | Required. The datatype to convert expression to. Can be one of the following: bigint, int, smallint, tinyint, bit, decimal, numeric, money, smallmoney, float, real, datetime, smalldatetime, char, varchar, text, nchar, nvarchar, ntext, binary, varbinary, or image |
(length) | Optional. The length of the resulting data type (for char, varchar, nchar, nvarchar, binary and varbinary) |
Technical Details
Works in: | SQL Server (starting with 2008), Azure SQL Database, Azure SQL Data Warehouse, Parallel Data Warehouse |
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More Examples
Example
Convert a value to a datetime datatype:
SELECT CAST('2017-08-25' AS datetime);
Try it Yourself »