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form of data into another format. The BODS support most of basic
conversion functions.
Here, I will explain the syntax and examples for those conversion
functions.
1. To_char
The to_char function used to convert number or date value into
string format.
This function will help you to convert a number or date to string.
The syntax for this function is given below with examples.
To_char(number or date, format)
Number to string.
e.g.
to_char(123,9999)= 123
to_char(123,09999)= 0123
to_char(31,xx) = 1f ----> string contains hexadecimal
integer.
to_char(31,xx)= 37 ----> string contains octal integer
Date to string.
e.g.
2. Intervel_to_char
3. Julian_To_Date
This will convert Julian value to date value.
The syntax for this function is given below.
Julian_to_date(Julian) return date
Julian_to_date(2,451,545) = 2000.01.01 00:00:00
Please refer below link to get more information about Julian day.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julian_day
4. Num_to_Intervel
This function will help you to convert an number into interval
value.
The syntax and examples are given below.
If sysdate()=2013.06.05 17:52:21
E.g. sysdate()+num_to_intervel(12,D)=2013.06.17
17:52:21(Adding 12 days to given date)
sysdate()+num_to_intervel(1,H)=2013.06.05
18:52:21(Adding 1 hour to given date)
Similarly, the number can convert into minutes (M) and
seconds(S).
Conversion functions in BODS_Part2
In this section I will explain mainly three conversion function in BO data service. They are mainly CAST, To_Date and
load_to_XML.
1. CAST
Cast function used to explicitly convert an expression in one data type to another data type. The syntax for this
function is given below.
CAST(Expression, data type) return data type.
The expression is the input which will be convert to target data type and the data type should be in build data type .
Syntax for different data type is given below .Please see below given table.
Data Type
Syntax
Varchar
Cast(expression, varchar(length))
decimal
Cast(expression,decimal(Precision,scale))
Integer
Cast(expression,int)
Real
Cast(expression,real)
Double
Cast(expression,double)
Timestamp
Cast(expression,timestamp)
Datetime
Cast(expression,datetime)
Date
Cast(expression,date)
Time
Cast(expression,time)
Intervel
Cast(expression,intervel)
Input Expression
Ouput
CAST(12.20,INT)
Varchar to int
12
CAST(12.20,DECIMAL(3,1))
Varchar to decimal
12.12
CAST(12.20,REAL)
Decimal to real
12.200000
CAST(12.20,DOUBLE)
Decimel to double
12.200000
CAST(12.20,VARCHAR(4))
Decimel to varchar
12.20
Cast(2012.01.01,date)
Varchar to date
2012.01.01
Cast(2012.01.01,datetime)
Varchar to datetime
2012.01.01 00:00:00
Cast(2012.01.01
12:01:12,timestamp)
Datetime to timestamp
2012.01.01 12.01.12.000000000
Cast(sysdate(),time)
Datetime to time
12:21:00
Cast(12.121239,intervel)
Integer to interval
12.121239
This table shows all the data type conversion valid for the cast functions.
From-To
Varchar
Date
DateTim
e
Intege
r
Rea
l
Double
Interva
l
Timestam
p
Time
Decimal
Varchar
Date
DateTime
Integer
Real
Double
Decimal
Interval
Timestam
p
Time
x
x
From above table you will get which one data type can be convert to another one and which all are cant convert to
other data type.
2. TO_DATE
The to_date function used to convert a string to date value. This function converts a string into date format.
The string can also convert into datetime and time value format.
If the input string has more characters than the format string, the extra characters in the input string will be ignored
and will be initialized to the default value.
For example, to_date('10.02.2007 10:12:12, 'DD.MM.YYYY') will convert the date to 10.02.2007 00.00.00. The time
part in the input string will be ignored and initialized to 0.
The syntax of the function is given below.
To_date(string,format) returns date ,datetime or time
FORMATS
DD
MM
MONTH
MON
YY
Year(2 Digit)
YYYY
Year(4 Digit)
HH24
Hour(2 Digit)
MI
Minutes(2 Digit)
SS
Seconds(2 Digit)
FF
The examples for this function are given below. A string can be converted into date value based on the above given
format.
Please refer below examples.
Function
To_date(jun 18,2012,MON DD,YYYY)
To_date(1March1900,DDMONTHYYYY)
To_date(12-12-01 13:12,MM-YY-DD HH24:MM)
To_date(2012Jan01,YYYYMONDD)
Result
2012.06.18 00:00:00
1900.03.01 00:00:00
2012.12.01 12:00
2012.01.01 00:00:00
These are examples for the string to date conversion .you can do any conversion from string to date based on the
format given.
3. LOAD_TO_XML
This function convert an NRDT(Nested Relational Data Model) into XML and place it as a single column during the
data load.
If the function fails during XML conversion then data services will return NULL value.
The Syntax for this is:
Load_to_XML(nested_table
name,Schema_dtd_name,enable_validation,xml_header,replace_string_nulls,is_top_level_ele
ment,max size)
nested_table_name
Schema_dtd_name
enable_validation
xml_header
default is UTF-8
replace_string_nulls
is_top_level_element
1 or 0
max size
Regards
Asgar