Changing Data Types: The CAST Function
You must be careful when you create an expression to make sure that the data types of the columns and literals are compatible with the operation you are requesting. For example, it doesn’t make sense to try to add character data to a number. But if the character column or literal contains a number, you can use the CAST function to convert the value before trying to add another number. Figure 5-1 shows you the CAST function, which is supported in nearly all commercial database systems.
Figure 5-1. The syntax diagram for the CAST function
The CAST function converts a literal value or the value of a column ...
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