Oracle/PLSQL: Cast Function

In Oracle/PLSQL, the cast function converts one datatype to another.

Syntax

The syntax for the cast function is:

cast ( { expr | ( subquery ) | MULTISET ( subquery ) } AS type_name )

Note

The following casts are allowed:

TO	FROM
	char, varchar2	number	datetime / interval	raw	rowid, urowid	nchar, nvarchar2
char, varchar2	X	X	X	X	X
number	X	X
datetime / interval	X		X
raw	X			X
rowid, urowid	X				X
nchar, nvarchar2		X	X	X	X	X

Applies To

• Oracle 11g, Oracle 10g, Oracle 9i

For Example

select cast( '22-Aug-2003' AS varchar2(30) )

from dual;

This would convert the date (ie: 22-Aug-2003) into a varchar2(30) value.