Converts the expression exp to the specified data type.  Conversion can potentially cause truncation as shown in the examples below.

 

If this size parameter is omitted for the following data types, it defaults to a size of one: Char, Varchar, Binary, Varbinary, Nchar, and Nvarchar.

Valid data types are shown in the following table:

 

CONVERT Data Types
 

Data Type	Description
Bigint	8-byte integer
Integer	4-byte integer
Smallint	2-byte integer
Tinyint	1-byte integer
Char(size)	Fixed length character string
Varchar(size)	Variable length character string
Binary(size)	Fixed length binary string
Varbinary(size)	Variable length binary string
Date	ODBC date
Time	ODBC time
Timestamp	ODBC date and time
Double	8-byte double
Float	4-byte real
Bit	bit
Decimal(precision, scale)	Decimal
Numeric(precision, scale)	Numeric
Nchar(size)	Unicode
Nvarchar(size)	Variable length Unicode

 

Example:

 CONVERT("123", integer)

 Returns: 123

 

 CONVERT(123, char(3))

 Returns: "123"

 

 CONVERT(123, char(2))

 Returns: "12"

 

 CONVERT(123, char)

 Returns: "1"