SQL Server CONVERT() Function

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Example

Convert an expression to int:

SELECT CONVERT(int, 25.65);

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Definition and Usage

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

Tip: Also look at the CAST() function.

Syntax

CONVERT( data_type(length) , expression , style)

Parameter Values

Value

Description

data_type

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)

expression

Required. The value to convert to another data type

style

Optional. The format used to convert between data types, such as a date or string format. Can be one of the following values:

Converting datetime to character:

Without century	With century	Input/Output	Standard
0	100	mon dd yyyy hh:miAM/PM	Default
1	101	mm/dd/yyyy	US
2	102	yyyy.mm.dd	ANSI
3	103	dd/mm/yyyy	British/French
4	104	dd.mm.yyyy	German
5	105	dd-mm-yyyy	Italian
6	106	dd mon yyyy	-
7	107	Mon dd, yyyy	-
8	108	hh:mm:ss	-
9	109	mon dd yyyy hh:mi:ss:mmmAM (or PM)	Default + millisec
10	110	mm-dd-yyyy	USA
11	111	yyyy/mm/dd	Japan
12	112	yyyymmdd	ISO
13	113	dd mon yyyy hh:mi:ss:mmm	Europe (24 hour clock)>
14	114	hh:mi:ss:mmm	24 hour clock
20	120	yyyy-mm-dd hh:mi:ss	ODBC canonical (24 hour clock)
21	121	yyyy-mm-dd hh:mi:ss.mmm	ODBC canonical (24 hour clock)
	126	yyyy-mm-ddThh:mi:ss.mmm	ISO8601
	127	yyyy-mm-ddThh:mi:ss.mmmZ	ISO8601 (with time zone Z)
	130	dd mon yyyy hh:mi:ss:mmmAM	Hijiri
	131	dd/mm/yy hh:mi:ss:mmmAM	Hijiri

Converting float to real:

Value	Explanation
0	Maximum 6 digits (default)
1	8 digits
2	16 digits

Converting money to character:

Value	Explanation
0	No comma delimiters, 2 digits to the right of decimal
1	Comma delimiters, 2 digits to the right of decimal
2	No comma delimiters, 4 digits to the right of decimal

Technical Details

Works in:	SQL Server (starting with 2008), Azure SQL Database, Azure SQL Data Warehouse, Parallel Data Warehouse

More Examples

Example

Convert an expression from one data type to another (varchar):

SELECT CONVERT(varchar, 25.65);

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Example

Convert an expression from one data type to another (datetime):

SELECT CONVERT(datetime, '2017-08-25');

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Example

Convert an expression from one data type to another (varchar):

SELECT CONVERT(varchar, '2017-08-25', 101);

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