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Conversion functions

GoogleSQL for SecOps supports conversion functions. These data type conversions are explicit, but some conversions can happen implicitly. You can learn more about implicit and explicit conversion here.

Function list

Name	Summary
`ARRAY_TO_STRING`	Produces a concatenation of the elements in an array as a `STRING` value. For more information, see Array functions.
`CAST`	Convert the results of an expression to the given type.
`CODE_POINTS_TO_BYTES`	Converts an array of extended ASCII code points to a `BYTES` value. For more information, see String aggregate functions.
`CODE_POINTS_TO_STRING`	Converts an array of extended ASCII code points to a `STRING` value. For more information, see String aggregate functions.
`DATE_FROM_UNIX_DATE`	Interprets an `INT64` expression as the number of days since 1970-01-01. For more information, see Date functions.
`FROM_BASE32`	Converts a base32-encoded `STRING` value into a `BYTES` value. For more information, see String functions.
`FROM_BASE64`	Converts a base64-encoded `STRING` value into a `BYTES` value. For more information, see String functions.
`PARSE_DATE`	Converts a `STRING` value to a `DATE` value. For more information, see Date functions.
`PARSE_DATETIME`	Converts a `STRING` value to a `DATETIME` value. For more information, see Datetime functions.
`PARSE_TIME`	Converts a `STRING` value to a `TIME` value. For more information, see Time functions.
`PARSE_TIMESTAMP`	Converts a `STRING` value to a `TIMESTAMP` value. For more information, see Timestamp functions.
`STRING` (Timestamp)	Converts a `TIMESTAMP` value to a `STRING` value. For more information, see Timestamp functions.
`TIMESTAMP_MICROS`	Converts the number of microseconds since 1970-01-01 00:00:00 UTC to a `TIMESTAMP`. For more information, see Timestamp functions.
`TIMESTAMP_MILLIS`	Converts the number of milliseconds since 1970-01-01 00:00:00 UTC to a `TIMESTAMP`. For more information, see Timestamp functions.
`TIMESTAMP_SECONDS`	Converts the number of seconds since 1970-01-01 00:00:00 UTC to a `TIMESTAMP`. For more information, see Timestamp functions.
`TO_BASE32`	Converts a `BYTES` value to a base32-encoded `STRING` value. For more information, see String functions.
`TO_BASE64`	Converts a `BYTES` value to a base64-encoded `STRING` value. For more information, see String functions.
`TO_CODE_POINTS`	Converts a `STRING` or `BYTES` value into an array of extended ASCII code points. For more information, see String functions.
`TO_JSON_STRING`	Converts a SQL value to a JSON-formatted `STRING` value. For more information, see JSON functions.
`UNIX_DATE`	Converts a `DATE` value to the number of days since 1970-01-01. For more information, see Date functions.
`UNIX_MICROS`	Converts a `TIMESTAMP` value to the number of microseconds since 1970-01-01 00:00:00 UTC. For more information, see Timestamp functions.
`UNIX_MILLIS`	Converts a `TIMESTAMP` value to the number of milliseconds since 1970-01-01 00:00:00 UTC. For more information, see Timestamp functions.
`UNIX_SECONDS`	Converts a `TIMESTAMP` value to the number of seconds since 1970-01-01 00:00:00 UTC. For more information, see Timestamp functions.

`CAST`

CAST(expression AS typename [format_clause])

Description

Cast syntax is used in a query to indicate that the result type of an expression should be converted to some other type.

When using CAST, a query can fail if GoogleSQL is unable to perform the cast. If you want to protect your queries from these types of errors, you can use SAFE_CAST.

Casts between supported types that don't successfully map from the original value to the target domain produce runtime errors. For example, casting BYTES to STRING where the byte sequence isn't valid UTF-8 results in a runtime error.

Some casts can include a format clause, which provides instructions for how to conduct the cast.

The structure of the format clause is unique to each type of cast and more information is available in the section for that cast.

Examples

The following query results in "true" if x is 1, "false" for any other non-NULL value, and NULL if x is NULL.

CAST(x=1 AS STRING)

CAST AS ARRAY

CAST(expression AS ARRAY<element_type>)

Description

GoogleSQL supports casting to ARRAY. The expression parameter can represent an expression for these data types:

ARRAY

Conversion rules

From	To	Rule(s) when casting `x`
`ARRAY`	`ARRAY`	Must be the exact same array type.
`NULL`	`ARRAY`	Casts a `NULL` value to a specific type of array. For example, `CAST(NULL AS ARRAY<FLOAT64>)` returns a `NULL` literal of type `ARRAY<FLOAT64>`.

CAST AS BOOL

CAST(expression AS BOOL)

Description

GoogleSQL supports casting to BOOL. The expression parameter can represent an expression for these data types:

INT64
BOOL
STRING

Conversion rules

From	To	Rule(s) when casting `x`
INT64	`BOOL`	Returns `FALSE` if `x` is `0`, `TRUE` otherwise.
`STRING`	`BOOL`	Returns `TRUE` if `x` is `"true"` and `FALSE` if `x` is `"false"` All other values of `x` are invalid and throw an error instead of casting to a boolean. A string is case-insensitive when converting to a boolean.

CAST AS BYTES

CAST(expression AS BYTES)

Description

GoogleSQL supports casting to BYTES. The expression parameter can represent an expression for these data types:

BYTES
STRING

Conversion rules

From	To	Rule(s) when casting `x`
`STRING`	`BYTES`	Strings are cast to bytes using UTF-8 encoding. For example, the string "©", when cast to bytes, would become a 2-byte sequence with the hex values C2 and A9.

CAST AS DATE

CAST(expression AS DATE)

Description

GoogleSQL supports casting to DATE. The expression parameter can represent an expression for these data types:

STRING
DATETIME
TIMESTAMP

Conversion rules

From	To	Rule(s) when casting `x`
`STRING`	`DATE`	When casting from string to date, the string must conform to the supported date literal format, and is independent of time zone. If the string expression is invalid or represents a date that's outside of the supported min/max range, then an error is produced.
`TIMESTAMP`	`DATE`	Casting from a timestamp to date effectively truncates the timestamp as of the default time zone.

CAST AS DATETIME

CAST(expression AS DATETIME)

Description

GoogleSQL supports casting to DATETIME. The expression parameter can represent an expression for these data types:

STRING
DATETIME
TIMESTAMP

Conversion rules

From	To	Rule(s) when casting `x`
`STRING`	`DATETIME`	When casting from string to datetime, the string must conform to the supported datetime literal format, and is independent of time zone. If the string expression is invalid or represents a datetime that's outside of the supported min/max range, then an error is produced.
`TIMESTAMP`	`DATETIME`	Casting from a timestamp to datetime effectively truncates the timestamp as of the default time zone.

CAST AS FLOAT64

CAST(expression AS FLOAT64)

Description

GoogleSQL supports casting to floating point types. The expression parameter can represent an expression for these data types:

INT64
FLOAT64
NUMERIC
STRING

Conversion rules

From	To	Rule(s) when casting `x`
INT64	FLOAT64	Returns a close but potentially not exact floating point value.
`NUMERIC`	FLOAT64	`NUMERIC` will convert to the closest floating point number with a possible loss of precision.
`STRING`	FLOAT64	Returns `x` as a floating point value, interpreting it as having the same form as a valid floating point literal. Also supports casts from `"[+,-]inf"` to `[,-]Infinity`, `"[+,-]infinity"` to `[,-]Infinity`, and `"[+,-]nan"` to `NaN`. Conversions are case-insensitive.

CAST AS INT64

CAST(expression AS INT64)

Description

GoogleSQL supports casting to integer types. The expression parameter can represent an expression for these data types:

INT64
FLOAT64
NUMERIC
BOOL
STRING

Conversion rules

From	To	Rule(s) when casting `x`
FLOAT64	INT64	Returns the closest integer value. Halfway cases such as 1.5 or -0.5 round away from zero.
`BOOL`	INT64	Returns `1` if `x` is `TRUE`, `0` otherwise.
`STRING`	INT64	A hex string can be cast to an integer. For example, `0x123` to `291` or `-0x123` to `-291`.

Examples

If you are working with hex strings (0x123), you can cast those strings as integers:

SELECT '0x123' as hex_value, CAST('0x123' as INT64) as hex_to_int;

/*-----------+------------+
 | hex_value | hex_to_int |
 +-----------+------------+
 | 0x123     | 291        |
 +-----------+------------*/

SELECT '-0x123' as hex_value, CAST('-0x123' as INT64) as hex_to_int;

/*-----------+------------+
 | hex_value | hex_to_int |
 +-----------+------------+
 | -0x123    | -291       |
 +-----------+------------*/

CAST AS NUMERIC

CAST(expression AS NUMERIC)

Description

GoogleSQL supports casting to NUMERIC. The expression parameter can represent an expression for these data types:

INT64
FLOAT64
NUMERIC
STRING

Conversion rules

From	To	Rule(s) when casting `x`
`FLOAT64`	`NUMERIC`	The floating point number will round half away from zero. Casting a `NaN`, `+inf` or `-inf` will return an error. Casting a value outside the range of `NUMERIC` returns an overflow error.
`STRING`	`NUMERIC`	The numeric literal contained in the string must not exceed the maximum precision or range of the `NUMERIC` type, or an error will occur. If the number of digits after the decimal point exceeds nine, then the resulting `NUMERIC` value will round half away from zero. to have nine digits after the decimal point.

CAST AS STRING

CAST(expression AS STRING)

Description

GoogleSQL supports casting to STRING. The expression parameter can represent an expression for these data types:

INT64
FLOAT64
NUMERIC
BOOL
BYTES
TIME
DATE
DATETIME
TIMESTAMP
STRING

Conversion rules

From	To	Rule(s) when casting `x`
FLOAT64	`STRING`	Returns an approximate string representation. A returned `NaN` or `0` will not be signed.
`BOOL`	`STRING`	Returns `"true"` if `x` is `TRUE`, `"false"` otherwise.
`BYTES`	`STRING`	Returns `x` interpreted as a UTF-8 string. For example, the bytes literal `b'\xc2\xa9'`, when cast to a string, is interpreted as UTF-8 and becomes the unicode character "©". An error occurs if `x` isn't valid UTF-8.
`TIME`	`STRING`	Casting from a time type to a string is independent of time zone and is of the form `HH:MM:SS`.
`DATE`	`STRING`	Casting from a date type to a string is independent of time zone and is of the form `YYYY-MM-DD`.
`DATETIME`	`STRING`	Casting from a datetime type to a string is independent of time zone and is of the form `YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM:SS`.
`TIMESTAMP`	`STRING`	When casting from timestamp types to string, the timestamp is interpreted using the default time zone, UTC. The number of subsecond digits produced depends on the number of trailing zeroes in the subsecond part: the CAST function will truncate zero, three, or six digits.

Examples

SELECT CAST(CURRENT_DATE() AS STRING) AS current_date

/*---------------+
 | current_date  |
 +---------------+
 | 2021-03-09    |
 +---------------*/

CAST AS STRUCT

CAST(expression AS STRUCT)

Description

GoogleSQL supports casting to STRUCT. The expression parameter can represent an expression for these data types:

STRUCT

Conversion rules

From	To	Rule(s) when casting `x`
`STRUCT`	`STRUCT`	Allowed if the following conditions are met: The two structs have the same number of fields. The original struct field types can be explicitly cast to the corresponding target struct field types (as defined by field order, not field name).

CAST AS TIME

CAST(expression AS TIME)

Description

GoogleSQL supports casting to TIME. The expression parameter can represent an expression for these data types:

STRING
TIME
DATETIME
TIMESTAMP

Conversion rules

From	To	Rule(s) when casting `x`
`STRING`	`TIME`	When casting from string to time, the string must conform to the supported time literal format, and is independent of time zone. If the string expression is invalid or represents a time that's outside of the supported min/max range, then an error is produced.

CAST AS TIMESTAMP

CAST(expression AS TIMESTAMP)

Description

GoogleSQL supports casting to TIMESTAMP. The expression parameter can represent an expression for these data types:

DATE
DATETIME
STRING
TIMESTAMP

Conversion rules

From	To	Rule(s) when casting `x`
`STRING`	`TIMESTAMP`	When casting from string to a timestamp, `string_expression` must conform to the supported timestamp literal formats, or else a runtime error occurs. The `string_expression` may itself contain a time zone. If there is a time zone in the `string_expression`, that time zone is used for conversion, otherwise the default time zone, UTC, is used. If the string has fewer than six digits, then it's implicitly widened. An error is produced if the `string_expression` is invalid, has more than six subsecond digits (i.e., precision greater than microseconds), or represents a time outside of the supported timestamp range.
`DATE`	`TIMESTAMP`	Casting from a date to a timestamp interprets `date_expression` as of midnight (start of the day) in the default time zone, UTC.
`DATETIME`	`TIMESTAMP`	Casting from a datetime to a timestamp interprets `datetime_expression` in the default time zone, UTC. Most valid datetime values have exactly one corresponding timestamp in each time zone. However, there are certain combinations of valid datetime values and time zones that have zero or two corresponding timestamp values. This happens in a time zone when clocks are set forward or set back, such as for Daylight Savings Time. When there are two valid timestamps, the earlier one is used. When there is no valid timestamp, the length of the gap in time (typically one hour) is added to the datetime.

Examples

The following example casts a string-formatted timestamp as a timestamp:

SELECT CAST("2020-06-02 17:00:53.110+00:00" AS TIMESTAMP) AS as_timestamp

Conversion functions Stay organized with collections Save and categorize content based on your preferences.

Function list

CAST

CAST AS ARRAY

CAST AS BOOL

CAST AS BYTES

CAST AS DATE

CAST AS DATETIME

CAST AS FLOAT64

CAST AS INT64

CAST AS NUMERIC

CAST AS STRING

CAST AS STRUCT

CAST AS TIME

CAST AS TIMESTAMP

Conversion functions

`CAST`