MSQL Reference – Type Aliases & Conversions

Type Aliases

Type	Aliases
`bool`	`boolean`, `bit`
`i8`	`int8`, `tinyint`
`i16`	`int16`, `smallint`
`i32`	`int32`, `integer`, `int`
`i64`	`int64`, `bigint`
`u8`	`uint8`, `tinyint unsigned`
`u16`	`uint16`, `smallint unsigned`
`u32`	`uint32`, `unsigned, integer unsigned, int unsigned`
`u64`	`uint64`, `bigint unsigned`
`f32`	`float32`, `single`, `float`, `real`
`f64`	`float64`, `double`, `double precision`
`ts`	`timestamp`
`tp`	`timeperiod`, `period`
`epoch`	`unixepoch`
`i8range`	`int8range`, `ri8`, `rint8`
`i16range`	`int16range`, `ri16`, `rint16`
`i32range`	`int32range`, `ri32`, `rint32`
`i64range`	`int64range`, `ri64`, `rint64`
`u8range`	`uint8range`, `ru8`, `ruint8`
`u16range`	`uint16range`, `ru16`, `ruint16`
`u32range`	`uint32range`, `ru32`, `ruint32`
`u64range`	`uint64range`, `ru64`, `ruint64`
`f32range`	`float32range`, `rf32`, `rfloat32`
`f64range`	`float64range`, `rf64`, `rfloat64`
`tsrange`	`timestamprange`, `rts`, `rtimestamp`
`epochrange`	`unixepochrange`, `repoch`, `runixepoch`
`str`	`string`, `text`, `varchar`, `char`
`bstr`	`bstring`, `bytea`, `varbinary`, `binary`, `blob`
`symbol`	`sym`, `symbol64`, `sym64`
`bsymbol`	`bsym`, `bsymbol64`, `bsym64`
`line`	`linestring`
`mpoint`	`multipoint`
`mline`	`multiline`, `mlinestring`, `multilinestring`
`mpolygon`	`multipolygon`
`gpoint`	`geopoint`, `geogpoint`
`gline`	`geoline`, `geogline`, `glinestring`, `geolinestring`, `geoglinestring`
`gpolygon`	`geopolygon`, `geogpolygon`
`gmpoint`	`geompoint`, `geogmpoint`, `gmultipoint`, `geomultipoint`, `geogmultipoint`
`gmline`	`gmlinestring`, `gmultiline`, `gmultilinestring`, `geomline`, `geomlinestring`, `geomultiline`, `geomultilinestring`, `geogmline`, `geogmlinestring`, `geogmultiline`, `geogmultilinestring`
`gmpolygon`	`geompolygon`, `geogmpolygon`, `gmultipolygon`, `geomultipolygon`, `geogmultipolygon`

Type Conversions

The following are tables showing all the type conversion available in the MSQL language.

From/To	`bool`	Integral	Floating	`text`	`binary`	Numeric range	`timestamp`	`unixepoch`	`timeperiod`	`rtimestamp`	`runixepoch`	Geometric	Geographic
`bool`	-	-	-	explicit	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Integral	-	implicit¹	implicit²	explicit	-	-	explicit	explicit	explicit	-	-	-	-
Floating	-		implicit³	explicit	-	-	explicit	explicit	explicit	-	-	-	-
`text`	explicit	explicit	explicit	-	explicit⁴	-	explicit	explicit	explicit	explicit	explicit	explicit	explicit
`binary`	-	-	-	explicit⁴	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	explicit	explicit
Numeric range	-	-	-	-	-	explicit⁵	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
`timestamp`	-	explicit	explicit	explicit	-	-	-	explicit⁶	-	-	-	-	-
`unixepoch`	-	explicit	explicit	explicit	-	-	implicit⁶	-	-	-	-	-	-
`timeperiod`	-	explicit	explicit	explicit	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
`rtimestamp`	-	-	-	explicit	-	explicit	-	-	-	-	explicit	-	-
`runixepoch`	-	-	-	explicit	-	explicit	-	-	-	explicit	-	-	-
Geometric	-	-	-	explicit	explicit	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	explicit⁷
Geographic	-	-	-	explicit	explicit	-	-	-	-	-	-	explicit⁷	-

[1]: In operator and function calls, all integral arguments are always implicitly upcasted to the int64 type.

[2]: In operator and function calls where floating-point arguments are expected, the integer arguments are also accepted and implicitly upcasted to float64.

[3]: In operator and function calls, all floating-point arguments are always implicitly upcasted to the float64 type.

[4]: Byte sequences are converted to/from their hexadecimal representation (e.g. a string of hexadecimal digits).

[5]: Refers to conversion between different range types.

[6]: In operator and function calls, unixepoch arguments are implicitly upcasted to the timestamp type.

[7]: Conversion is possible only between corresponding kinds of geometric and geographic objects (e.g. point <-> geogpoint, multipolygon <-> geogmultipolygon).

Implicit conversions are those which can happen without an explicit call to the CAST function or the :: operator.
Explicit conversions require explicit calls to the CAST function or the :: operator, e.g. CAST(123.45 AS text) or '2020-01-07 08:15:00'::timestamp. They are most often internally implemented as calls to special conversion functions such as TO_CHAR or ST_TOGEOM.

The following are special conversion functions for performing explicit casts between values of different types:

Type conversion	Special conversion function(s)
`bool` -> `text`	TO_CHAR
Numeric -> `text`	TO_CHAR
`text` -> `bool`	PARSE_BOOL
`text` -> Integral	PARSE_INT
`text` -> Floating	PARSE_FLOAT
`text` -> `timestamp`	PARSE_TS
`text` -> `unixepoch`	PARSE_EPOCH
`text` -> `timeperiod`	PARSE_TP
`text` -> `rtimeperiod`	PARSE_TSRANGE
`text` -> `runixepoch`	PARSE_EPOCHRANGE
Temporal -> `text`	TO_CHAR (temporal)
`text` -> `binary`	HEX_DECODE, BASE64_DECODE
`binary` -> `text`	HEX_ENCODE, BASE64_ENCODE
Geometry -> Geography	ST_TOGEOG
Geography -> Geometry	ST_TOGEOM
`text` -> Geometry	ST_POINTFROMTEXT
	ST_LINEFROMTEXT
	ST_POLYGONFROMTEXT
	ST_MPOINTFROMTEXT
	ST_MLINEFROMTEXT
	ST_MPOLYFROMTEXT
`text` -> Geography	ST_GEOGPOINTFROMTEXT
	ST_GEOGLINEFROMTEXT
	ST_GEOGPOLYGONFROMTEXT
	ST_GEOGMPOINTFROMTEXT
	ST_GEOGMLINEFROMTEXT
	ST_GEOGMPOLYFROMTEXT
Geometry -> `text`	ST_ASTEXT
Geography -> `text`	ST_ASTEXT
`binary` -> Geometry	ST_POINTFROMWKB
	ST_LINEFROMWKB
	ST_POLYGONFROMWKB
	ST_MPOINTFROMWKB
	ST_MLINEFROMWKB
	ST_MPOLYFROMWKB
`binary` -> Geography	ST_GEOGPOINTFROMWKB
	ST_GEOGLINEFROMWKB
	ST_GEOGPOLYGONFROMWKB
	ST_GEOGMPOINTFROMWKB
	ST_GEOGMLINEFROMWKB
	ST_GEOGMPOLYFROMWKB
Geometry -> `binary`	ST_ASBINARY
Geography -> `binary`	ST_ASBINARY