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KrafDinner
Starting Member
34 Posts |
 Posted - 2010-07-13 : 11:39:27
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| I was just wondering what the difference between these two happens to be. Is there a particular best case for using CAST or using CONVERT ?If anyone could shed some light on that, I would appreciate it.Thanks ! :D |
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webfred
Master Smack Fu Yak Hacker
8781 Posts |
Posted - 2010-07-13 : 11:51:58
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Syntax for CAST:CAST ( expression AS data_type [ ( length ) ] )Syntax for CONVERT:CONVERT ( data_type [ ( length ) ] , expression [ , style ] )They are nearly equal but CONVERT is more powerful if you need the STYLE
No, you're never too old to Yak'n'Roll if you're too young to die. |
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KrafDinner
Starting Member
34 Posts |
Posted - 2010-07-13 : 12:10:04
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| Fair enough - I knew the syntax I was just wondering if there was some case where one or the other was better.Thanks for the input :) |
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Kristen
Test
22859 Posts |
Posted - 2010-07-13 : 12:18:11
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| Because I sometimes use STYLE I have decided to always use CONVERT, and never use CAST, so that my code is consistent.But I don't know if that's a good policy, or not! |
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Lamprey
Master Smack Fu Yak Hacker
4614 Posts |
Posted - 2010-07-13 : 15:21:25
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| I'm sure I sound like broken record, but CAST is ansi compliant and CONVERT is not. Which may or may not matter to anyone. I think the only time I ever use CONVERT is to answer a question on the forums where someone has either an educational question or they have data issues. |
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Kristen
Test
22859 Posts |
Posted - 2010-07-14 : 02:28:11
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| The whole SQL standard thingie is a bit moot isn't it? Every version introduces new keywords ... are VARCHAR(MAX) and DATETIME2 compatible with any other SQL brand? (I don't know the answer, but given the weird and seemingly poorly thought-through naming conventions I had assumed not ...)I can't see me using anything other than MS SQL, or my MS SQL code running on any other brand of SQL (even if I used CAST rather than CONVERT)!! Hmmm ... is that an MS marketing plot I wonder?But I wholeheartedly agree that it would be an important point for anyone making cross-platform queries. |
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CAST and CONVERT