Cast vs. Convert

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Home » Article Discussions » Article Discussions by Author » Discuss content posted by Prakriti Agrawal » Cast vs. Convert

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Cast vs. Convert

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Aam-624390

Posted Monday, March 08, 2010 11:22 PM

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I figured the answer was going to be something related to CONVERT having the style parameter (and hence more capabilities), but then saw in BOL (2005) that "CAST and CONVERT provide similar functionality" so chose the last answer.. doh! Should have gone with gut feeling but have been tricked too many times from previous questions which always give the BOL answer as the correct one (even if it isn't). Although I see now that BOL for 2008 does not have that statement in it.

Just can't win....

Post #879132

vk-kirov

Posted Tuesday, March 09, 2010 3:26 AM

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erwin.oosterhoorn (3/8/2010)

bouarroudj Mohamed (3/8/2010)

CONVERT works across all platforms & has more capabilities in SQL Server is also true

That is what I am looking at as well, does this not mean the same as the given right answer?
If one has less the other must have more?

I agree with this. The phrasing of the answers seems quite ambiguous to me.

"CAST ... has less capabilities in SQL Server" – according to what? According to "CAST in another RDBMS", according to "CAST in SQL-92", or according to "CONVERT in MSSQL/another RDBMS"?

KevinC. (3/8/2010)

If I understand correctly, CONVERT is MS SQL specific whereas CAST is ANSI-SQL and will work on multiple platforms (i.e. Oracle, DB2, etc.).

Therefore, the above statement is incorrect because CONVERT does NOT work across all platforms (though it does have more capabilities in SQL Server).

Please correct me if I'm wrong. BigGrin

CONVERT is not MSSQL specific, it also works on Sybase ASA/ASE.
Also CONVERT exists in SQL-92, but has different meaning (see below).

I had checked documentation on several RDBMS platforms (MSSQL, Sybase, Oracle, DB2, PostgreSQL, MySQL) before I answered the question, here is the result:
– CAST works across all these platforms, and may have additional MULTISET parameter in Oracle;
– CONVERT works across all platforms, but has two different meanings. In MSSQL/Sybase it converts data from one type to another, in other databases it converts text data from one encoding to another (therefore working like COLLATE clause in MSSQL), as described in SQL-92.

Also I found an issue in the QOD explanation:

agrawal.prakriti

CAST is the more ANSI-standard of the two functions, meaning that while it's more portable

This sentence is somewhat incomplete, isn't it? (although I'm a total noob at English language Smile

)

Post #879213

TravisDBA

Posted Tuesday, March 09, 2010 3:28 AM

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bouarroudj Mohamed (3/8/2010)

CONVERT works across all platforms & has more capabilities in SQL Server is also true

My thinking exactly and that was my answer too, which I got wrong. Question was a little confusing and nebulous..

"Technology is a weird thing. It brings you great gifts with one hand, and it stabs you in the back with the other. ... BigGrin

Post #879215

Paul White

Posted Tuesday, March 09, 2010 3:34 AM

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Can anyone else hear that high-pitched whining sound in here? Tongue

Paul White
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Post #879219

vk-kirov

Posted Tuesday, March 09, 2010 3:34 AM

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sknox (3/8/2010)

I'm quite surprised that, at the time I answered the question, approximately 3/4 of people got this question wrong.

Do you think this is because lack of knowledge? I think many people answered "incorrect" because of the phrasing.

Post #879220

L' Eomot Inversé

Posted Tuesday, March 09, 2010 8:52 AM

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Paul White (3/9/2010)

Can anyone else hear that high-pitched whining sound in here? Tongue

Yes, I hear it loud and clear. Pitiful Crying

, ain't it? BigGrin

. And just a little nauseating Sick

.

Tom
Que conclure à la fin de tous mes longs propos? C'est que les préjugés sont la raison des sots. (Voltaire, 1756)

Post #879450

jmatayoshi

Posted Thursday, March 11, 2010 12:01 PM

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this question is ambiguous, both answers 2 and 4 are almost the same

Post #881242

Tom Garth

Posted Thursday, March 11, 2010 4:00 PM

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jmatayoshi (3/11/2010)

this question is ambiguous, both answers 2 and 4 are almost the same

So Almost the Same = Ambiguous?

What if they were Somewhat Different? Would that be better?

Tom Garth
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"There are three kinds of men. The one that learns by reading. The few who learn by observation. The rest of them have to pee on the electric fence for themselves." -- Will Rogers

Post #881408