Syntax

HEX (expression)

Arguments

• expression: any valid expression. This can be a column name, literal, or the return value of another function.

Return Type

Upper-case hexadecimal string.

Remarks

• Numeric Arguments: When the argument to HEX is numeric (e.g. integer, real, or decimal), the HEX function operates on the binary representation of the value as follows.

  • The numeric value is treated as an unsigned BIGINT and the result is the HEX of the unsigned BIGINT value.

  • UNHEX is not the inverse of HEX for numeric values.

    • For example, UNHEX(HEX(1234)) != 1234.

• String, BLOB, and Vector Arguments: When the argument to HEX is a string, BLOB, or vector, each byte of the string, BLOB, or vector is converted to two hexadecimal digits.

  • For example, HEX('[1,2,3]':>VECTOR(3,F32)) = 0000803F0000004000004040.

    • 0000803F is the hexadecimal representation of the floating point representation of 1 (the first element in the vector).

  • HEX is the inverse of UNHEX for strings, BLOBs, and vectors.

    • For example, UNHEX(HEX('1234')) = '1234'.

Examples

SELECT HEX(1234);

+-----------+
| HEX(1234) |
+-----------+
| 4D2       |
+-----------+

SELECT HEX('1234');

+-------------+
| HEX('1234') |
+-------------+
| 31323334    |
+-------------+

SELECT HEX('ohai');

+-------------+
| HEX('ohai') |
+-------------+
| 6F686169    |
+-------------+

SELECT HEX('[1,2,3]':>VECTOR(3,F32));

+-------------------------------+
| HEX('[1,2,3]':>VECTOR(3,F32)) |
+-------------------------------+
| 0000803F0000004000004040      |
+-------------------------------+

Related Topics

• UNHEX