Cast functions and operators enable conversion of values from one data type to another.

CONVERT() with a USING clause provides a way to convert data between different character sets:

CONVERT(expr USING transcoding_name)

In MySQL, transcoding names are the same as the corresponding character set names.

Examples:

SELECT CONVERT(_latin1'Müller' USING utf8);
INSERT INTO utf8_table (utf8_column)
    SELECT CONVERT(latin1_column USING utf8) FROM latin1_table;

You can also use CONVERT() without USING or CAST() to convert strings between different character sets:

CONVERT(string, CHAR[(N)] CHARACTER SET charset_name)
CAST(string AS CHAR[(N)] CHARACTER SET charset_name)

Examples:

SELECT CONVERT('test', CHAR CHARACTER SET utf8);
SELECT CAST('test' AS CHAR CHARACTER SET utf8);

If you specify CHARACTER SET charset_name as just shown, the resulting character set and collation are charset_name and the default collation of charset_name. If you omit CHARACTER SET charset_name, the resulting character set and collation are defined by the character_set_connection and collation_connection system variables that determine the default connection character set and collation (see Section 10.1.4, “Connection Character Sets and Collations”).

A COLLATE clause is not permitted within a CONVERT() or CAST() call, but you can apply it to the function result. For example, this is legal:

SELECT CAST('test' AS CHAR CHARACTER SET utf8) COLLATE utf8_bin;

But this is illegal:

SELECT CAST('test' AS CHAR CHARACTER SET utf8 COLLATE utf8_bin);

Normally, you cannot compare a BLOB value or other binary string in case-insensitive fashion because binary strings use the binary character set, which has no collation with the concept of lettercase. To perform a case-insensitive comparison, use the CONVERT() or CAST() function to convert the value to a nonbinary string. Comparisons of the resulting string use its collation. For example, if the conversion result character set has a case-insensitive collation, a LIKE operation is not case sensitive:

SELECT 'A' LIKE CONVERT(blob_col USING latin1)
  FROM tbl_name;

To use a different character set, substitute its name for latin1 in the preceding statement. To specify a particular collation for the converted string, use a COLLATE clause following the CONVERT() call:

SELECT 'A' LIKE CONVERT(blob_col USING latin1) COLLATE latin1_german1_ci
  FROM tbl_name;

CONVERT() and CAST() can be used more generally for comparing strings that are represented in different character sets. For example, a comparison of these strings results in an error because they have different character sets:

mysql> SET @s1 = _latin1 'abc', @s2 = _latin2 'abc';
mysql> SELECT @s1 = @s2;
ERROR 1267 (HY000): Illegal mix of collations (latin1_swedish_ci,IMPLICIT)
and (latin2_general_ci,IMPLICIT) for operation '='

Converting one of the strings to a character set compatible with the other enables the comparison to occur without error:

mysql> SELECT @s1 = CONVERT(@s2 USING latin1);
+---------------------------------+
| @s1 = CONVERT(@s2 USING latin1) |
+---------------------------------+
|                               1 |
+---------------------------------+

For string literals, another way to specify the character set is to use a character set introducer (_latin1 and _latin2 in the preceding example are instances of introducers). Unlike conversion functions such as CAST(), or CONVERT(), which convert a string from one character set to another, an introducer designates a string literal as having a particular character set, with no conversion involved. For more information, see Section 10.1.3.8, “Character Set Introducers”.

Character set conversion is also useful preceding lettercase conversion of binary strings. LOWER() and UPPER() are ineffective when applied directly to binary strings because the concept of lettercase does not apply. To perform lettercase conversion of a binary string, first convert it to a nonbinary string:

mysql> SET @str = BINARY 'New York';
mysql> SELECT LOWER(@str), LOWER(CONVERT(@str USING latin1));
+-------------+-----------------------------------+
| LOWER(@str) | LOWER(CONVERT(@str USING latin1)) |
+-------------+-----------------------------------+
| New York    | new york                          |
+-------------+-----------------------------------+

If you convert an indexed column using BINARY, CAST(), or CONVERT(), MySQL may not be able to use the index efficiently.

The cast functions are useful for creating a column with a specific type in a CREATE TABLE ... SELECT statement:

mysql> CREATE TABLE new_table SELECT CAST('2000-01-01' AS DATE) AS c1;
mysql> SHOW CREATE TABLE new_table\G
*************************** 1. row ***************************
       Table: new_table
Create Table: CREATE TABLE `new_table` (
  `c1` date DEFAULT NULL
) ENGINE=InnoDB DEFAULT CHARSET=latin1

The cast functions are useful for sorting ENUM columns in lexical order. Normally, sorting of ENUM columns occurs using the internal numeric values. Casting the values to CHAR results in a lexical sort:

SELECT enum_col FROM tbl_name ORDER BY CAST(enum_col AS CHAR);

CAST() also changes the result if you use it as part of a more complex expression such as CONCAT('Date: ',CAST(NOW() AS DATE)).

For temporal values, there is little need to use CAST() to extract data in different formats. Instead, use a function such as EXTRACT(), DATE_FORMAT(), or TIME_FORMAT(). See Section 12.7, “Date and Time Functions”.

To cast a string to a number, you normally need do nothing other than use the string value in numeric context:

mysql> SELECT 1+'1';
       -> 2

That is also true for hexadecimal and bit literals, which are binary strings by default:

mysql> SELECT X'41', X'41'+0;
        -> 'A', 65
mysql> SELECT b'1100001', b'1100001'+0;
        -> 'a', 97

A string used in an arithmetic operation is converted to a floating-point number during expression evaluation.

A number used in string context is converted to a string:

mysql> SELECT CONCAT('hello you ',2);
        -> 'hello you 2'

Prior to MySQL 5.6.4, when using an explicit CAST() on a TIMESTAMP value in a statement that does not select from any tables, the value is treated by MySQL as a string prior to performing any conversion. This results in the value being truncated when casting to a numeric type, as shown here:

mysql> SELECT CAST(TIMESTAMP '2014-09-08 18:07:54' AS SIGNED);
+-------------------------------------------------+
| CAST(TIMESTAMP '2014-09-08 18:07:54' AS SIGNED) |
+-------------------------------------------------+
|                                            2014 |
+-------------------------------------------------+
1 row in set, 1 warning (0.00 sec)

mysql> SHOW WARNINGS;
+---------+------+----------------------------------------------------------+
| Level   | Code | Message                                                  |
+---------+------+----------------------------------------------------------+
| Warning | 1292 | Truncated incorrect INTEGER value: '2014-09-08 18:07:54' |
+---------+------+----------------------------------------------------------+
1 row in set (0.00 sec)

This does not apply when selecting rows from a table, as shown here:

mysql> USE test;

Database changed
mysql> CREATE TABLE c_test (col TIMESTAMP);
Query OK, 0 rows affected (0.07 sec)

mysql> INSERT INTO c_test VALUES ('2014-09-08 18:07:54');
Query OK, 1 row affected (0.05 sec)

mysql> SELECT col, CAST(col AS UNSIGNED) AS c_col FROM c_test;
+---------------------+----------------+
| col                 | c_col          |
+---------------------+----------------+
| 2014-09-08 18:07:54 | 20140908180754 |
+---------------------+----------------+
1 row in set (0.00 sec)

In MySQL 5.6.4 and later, CAST() handles TIMESTAMP values in queries not selecting any rows in the same way as it does for those doing so, as shown here:

mysql> SELECT CAST(TIMESTAMP '2014-09-08 18:07:54' AS SIGNED);
+-------------------------------------------------+
| CAST(TIMESTAMP '2014-09-08 18:05:07' AS SIGNED) |
+-------------------------------------------------+
|                                  20140908180754 |
+-------------------------------------------------+
1 row in set (0.00 sec)

For information about implicit conversion of numbers to strings, see Section 12.2, “Type Conversion in Expression Evaluation”.

MySQL supports arithmetic with both signed and unsigned 64-bit values. For numeric operators (such as + or -) where one of the operands is an unsigned integer, the result is unsigned by default (see Section 12.6.1, “Arithmetic Operators”). To override this, use the SIGNED or UNSIGNED cast operator to cast a value to a signed or unsigned 64-bit integer, respectively.

mysql> SELECT 1 - 2;
        -> -1
mysql> SELECT CAST(1 - 2 AS UNSIGNED);
        -> 18446744073709551615
mysql> SELECT CAST(CAST(1 - 2 AS UNSIGNED) AS SIGNED);
        -> -1

If either operand is a floating-point value, the result is a floating-point value and is not affected by the preceding rule. (In this context, DECIMAL column values are regarded as floating-point values.)

mysql> SELECT CAST(1 AS UNSIGNED) - 2.0;
        -> -1.0

The SQL mode affects the result of conversion operations (see Section 5.1.8, “Server SQL Modes”). Examples:

The following list describes the available cast functions and operators: