convert

The convert function allows you to change the type of an expression. The syntax is

   CONVERT(expression, 'type-name')

This can be useful in a number of situations. Some cases where you might want to use convert are

• The display format for a different format is more useful. For example you might want to convert a field of type COUNTER to a DATE field, so you can see when the record was inserted, for example:

      SELECT convert(id, 'date')
      FROM   LOG;

• If you have an application which is expecting data in a particular type you can use convert to make sure you will receive the correct type.