Converts character data from any supported character set into the CHAR character set for the database.

Syntax

TO_CHAR( string-expression [, source-charset-name ] )

Parameters

Returns

LONG VARCHAR

Remarks

If source-charset-name is specified, then this function is equivalent to:

CAST( CSCONVERT( CAST( string-expression AS BINARY ),
 'db_charset', source-charset-name )
   AS CHAR );

For more information about db_charset, see CSCONVERT function [String].

If source-charset-name is not specified, then this function is equivalent to:

CAST( string-expression AS CHAR );

See also

• Recommended character sets and collations
• CONNECTION_EXTENDED_PROPERTY function [String]
• CSCONVERT function [String]
• NCHAR function [String]
• TO_NCHAR function [String]
• UNICODE function [String]
• UNISTR function [String]

Standards and compatibility

Example

If you have a BINARY value containing data in the cp850 character set, the following statement converts the data to the CHAR character set and data type:

SELECT TO_CHAR( 'cp850_data', 'cp850' );