How can Oracle convert a character type to a number?

2 years ago
Isabella Edwards
1 minute

In Oracle, you can use the following three functions to convert a character type to a number type:

  1. The TO_NUMBER() function converts a character type to a number type. If the character type cannot be converted to a valid number, it will throw an ORA-01722 exception.

Syntax: TO_NUMBER(character, [format_mask], [nls_parameter])

Display the number ‘1234’ as a result from the dual table.

  1. CAST() function: This function is used to convert one data type to another data type. It can be used to convert a character type to a number type.

Syntax: Convert expression to the specified data type.

Example:
SELECT CONVERT(‘1234’, INT) FROM dual;

  1. Arithmetic operators in Oracle automatically convert character types to numeric types when performing operations.

SELECT ‘1234’ CAST AS INT FROM dual;

All three methods can be used to convert a character type to a numerical type, the specific method to use depends on your needs and data format.

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