Preface
The Transformation Language
Constants
Operators
Variables
- Built-in Variables
  - SYSDATE
    - Example
- Local Variables
Dates
Functions
- Function Categories
  - Aggregate Functions
  - Aggregate Functions and Nulls
    - Filter Conditions
  - Character Functions
  - Complex Functions
  - Conversion Functions
  - Data Cleansing Functions
  - Date Functions
  - Encoding Functions
  - Financial Functions
  - Numeric Functions
  - Scientific Functions
  - Special Functions
  - String Functions
  - Test Functions
  - Window Functions
- ABORT
- ABS
- ADD_TO_DATE
- AES_DECRYPT
- AES_ENCRYPT
- ANY
- ARRAY
- ASCII
- AVG
- CAST
- CEIL
- CHOOSE
- CHR
- CHRCODE
- COLLECT_LIST
- COLLECT_MAP
- COMPRESS
- CONCAT
- CONCAT_ARRAY
- CONVERT_BASE
- COS
- COSH
- COUNT
- CRC32
- CREATE_TIMESTAMP_TZ
- CUME
- DATE_COMPARE
- DATE_DIFF
- DEC_BASE64
- DECODE
- DECOMPRESS
- ENC_BASE64
- ERROR
- EXP
- FIRST
- FLOOR
- FV
- GET_DATE_PART
- GET_TIMEZONE
- GET_TIMESTAMP
- GREATEST
- IIF
- IN
- INDEXOF
- INITCAP
- INSTR
- ISNULL
- IS_DATE
- IS_NUMBER
- IS_SPACES
- LAG
- LAST
- LAST_DAY
- LEAD
- LEAST
- LENGTH
- LN
- LOG
- LOWER
- LPAD
- LTRIM
- MAKE_DATE_TIME
- MAP
- MAP_FROM_ARRAYS
- MAP_KEYS
- MAP_VALUES
- MAX (Dates)
- MAX (Numbers)
- MAX (String)
- MD5
- MEDIAN
- METAPHONE
- MIN (Dates)
- MIN (Numbers)
- MIN (String)
- MOD
- MOVINGAVG
- MOVINGSUM
- NPER
- PERCENTILE
- PMT
- POWER
- PV
- RAND
- RATE
- REG_EXTRACT
- REG_MATCH
- REG_REPLACE
- REPLACECHR
- REPLACESTR
- RESPEC
- REVERSE
- ROUND (Dates)
- ROUND (Numbers)
- RPAD
- RTRIM
- SET_DATE_PART
- SIGN
- SIN
- SINH
- SIZE
- SOUNDEX
- SQL_LIKE
- SQRT
- STDDEV
- STRUCT
- STRUCT_AS
- SUBSTR
- SUM
- SYSTIMESTAMP
- TAN
- TANH
- TO_BIGINT
- TO_CHAR (Dates)
- TO_CHAR (Numbers)
- TO_DATE
- TO_DECIMAL
- TO_DECIMAL38
- TO_FLOAT
- TO_INTEGER
- TO_TIMESTAMP_TZ
- TRUNC (Dates)
- TRUNC (Numbers)
- UPPER
- UUID4
- UUID_UNPARSE
- VARIANCE

Transformation Language Reference

10.2.2
- 10.5.9
- 10.5.8
- 10.5.7
- 10.5.6
- 10.5.4
- 10.5.1
- 10.5
- 10.4.0
- 10.2.2 Service Pack 1
- 10.2.1

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TO_CHAR (Numbers)

Converts numeric values to text strings. TO_CHAR also converts dates to strings.

TO_CHAR converts double values to text strings as follows:

Converts double values of up to 16 digits to strings and provides accuracy up to 15 digits. If you pass a number with more than 15 digits, TO_CHAR rounds the number based on the sixteenth digit and returns the string representation of the number in scientific notation. For example, 1234567890123456 double value converts to '1.23456789012346e+015' string value.

Returns decimal notation for numbers in the ranges (-1e16,-1e-16] and [1e-16, 1e16). TO_CHAR returns scientific notation for numbers outside these ranges. For example, 10842764968208837340 double value converts to '1.08427649682088e+019' string value.

TO_CHAR converts decimal values to text strings as follows:

In high precision mode, TO_CHAR converts decimal values of up to 38 digits to strings. If you pass a decimal value with more than 38 digits, TO_CHAR returns scientific notation for numbers greater than 38 digits.

In low precision mode, TO_CHAR treats decimal values as double values.

Syntax

TO_CHAR( numeric_value )

The following table describes the argument for this command:

Argument	Required/ Optional	Description
numeric_value	Required	Numeric data type. The numeric value you want to convert to a string. You can enter any valid transformation expression.

Return Value

String.

NULL if a value passed to the function is NULL.

Double Conversion Example

The following expression converts the double values in the SALES port to strings:

TO_CHAR( SALES )

SALES	RETURN VALUE
1010.99	'1010.99'
-15.62567	'-15.62567'
10842764968208837340	'1.08427649682088e+019' (rounded based on the 16th digit and returns the value in scientific notation)
236789034569723	'236789034569723'
0	'0'
33.15	'33.15'
NULL	NULL

Decimal Conversion Example

The following expression converts the decimal values in the SALES port to strings in high precision mode:

TO_CHAR( SALES )

SALES	RETURN VALUE
2378964536789761	'2378964536789761'
1234567890123456789012345679	'1234567890123456789012345679'
1.234578945469649345876123456	'1.234578945469649345876123456'
0.999999999999999999999999999	'0.999999999999999999999999999'
12345678901234567890123456799	'12345678901234567890123456799'
23456788992233456678458934567123465239	'23456788992233456678458934567123465239'
423456789012345678901234567991234567899 (greater than 38)	'4.23456789012346e+038'

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Table of Contents

Transformation Language Reference

Transformation Language Reference

TO_CHAR (Numbers)

TO_CHAR (Numbers)

Syntax

Return Value

Double Conversion Example

Decimal Conversion Example