MySQL CAST Function

Example

Convert a value to a DATE datatype:

SELECT CAST("2017-08-29" AS DATE);

Definition and Usage

The CAST() function converts a value (of any type) into the specified datatype.

 

Syntax

CAST(value AS datatype)

Parameter Values

Parameter Description
value Required. The value to convert
datatype Required. The datatype to convert to. Can be one of the following:

Value Description
DATE Converts value to DATE. Format: “YYYY-MM-DD”
DATETIME Converts value to DATETIME. Format: “YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM:SS”
DECIMAL Converts value to DECIMAL. Use the optional M and D parameters to specify the maximum number of digits (M) and the number of digits following the decimal point (D).
TIME Converts value to TIME. Format: “HH:MM:SS”
CHAR Converts value to CHAR (a fixed length string)
NCHAR Converts value to NCHAR (like CHAR, but produces a string with the national character set)
SIGNED Converts value to SIGNED (a signed 64-bit integer)
UNSIGNED Converts value to UNSIGNED (an unsigned 64-bit integer)
BINARY Converts value to BINARY (a binary string)

Technical Details

Works in: From MySQL 4.0

More Examples

Example

Convert a value to a CHAR datatype:

SELECT CAST(150 AS CHAR);

Example

Convert a value to a TIME datatype:

SELECT CAST("14:06:10" AS TIME);

Example

Convert a value to a SIGNED datatype:

SELECT CAST(5-10 AS SIGNED);