CAST to DECIMAL in MySQL

Question

I am trying to cast to Decimal in MySQL like this:

CAST((COUNT(*) * 1.5) AS DECIMAL(2))

I'm trying to convert the number of rows in a table (times 1.5) to a floating point number with two digits after the point.

SQL code:

 SELECT CONCAT(Guardian.title, ' ', 
               Guardian.forename, ' ', 
               Guardian.surname) AS 'Guardian Name', 
               COUNT(*) AS 'Number of Activities', 
               (COUNT(*) * 1.5) AS 'Cost'
 FROM Schedule
 INNER JOIN Child ON Schedule.child_id = Child.id
 INNER JOIN Guardian ON Child.guardian = Guardian.id
 GROUP BY Guardian
 ORDER BY Guardian.surname, Guardian.forename ASC

It produces an error:

#1064 - You have an error in your SQL syntax; check the manual that 
corresponds to your MySQL server version for the right syntax to use 
near 'CAST((COUNT(*) * 1.5) AS DECIMAL(12,2))' at line 1.

Another try, this cast also doesn't work:

 SELECT CONCAT(Guardian.title, ' ', 
               Guardian.forename, ' ', 
               Guardian.surname) AS 'Guardian Name', 
               COUNT(*) AS 'Number of Activities', 
               CAST((COUNT(*) * 1.5) AS DECIMAL(8,2)) AS 'Cost'
 FROM Schedule
 INNER JOIN Child ON Schedule.child_id = Child.id
 INNER JOIN Guardian ON Child.guardian = Guardian.id
 GROUP BY Guardian
 ORDER BY Guardian.surname, Guardian.forename ASC

How do I use mysql to cast from integer to decimal?

Cessation

What kind of trouble? Do you have a specific error message or result that shows the problem? – Puddling

#1064 - You have an error in your SQL syntax; check the manual that corresponds to your MySQL server version for the right syntax to use near 'CAST((COUNT(*) * 1.5) AS DECIMAL(12,2))' at line 1. – Cessation

I've looked at the documentation and can't see why my code isn't working :S – Cessation

Show us the whole code, not just a line. This SQL-Fiddle works fine. – Weedy

GROUP BY Guardian ??? Guardian is a table, right? SHouldn't it be GROUP BY Guardian.id ? – Weedy

Yes, probably - I'm new to this :P – Cessation

This is a really old question, my apologies, but it looks like the cause for the error was never pointed out, so I just wanted to say that CONCAT(...something... AS ...something..., ...more stuff here...) is what's causing the syntax error. Compare SELECT CONCAT('foo', 'bar', CAST(8 / 5 AS DECIMAL(12,2))); and SELECT CONCAT('foo' AS foo, 'bar' AS bar, CAST(8 / 5 AS DECIMAL(12,2)) AS cost);. – Thermogenesis

Answer 1

From MySQL docs: Fixed-Point Types (Exact Value) - DECIMAL, NUMERIC:

In standard SQL, the syntax DECIMAL(M) is equivalent to DECIMAL(M,0)

So, you are converting to a number with 2 integer digits and 0 decimal digits. Try this instead:

CAST((COUNT(*) * 1.5) AS DECIMAL(12,2)) 

Stela

Thanks, although I've tried that already and just got the following error: #1064 - You have an error in your SQL syntax; check the manual that corresponds to your MySQL server version for the right syntax to use near 'DECIMAL(12,2)) AS 'Cost' – Cessation

@Ben: Don't use single quotes there: AS 'Cost'. Use: AS Cost – Weedy

Thanks, but I'm still getting the error when I remove the quotes. – Cessation

Answer 2

MySQL casts to Decimal:

Cast bare integer to decimal:

select cast(9 as decimal(4,2));       //prints 9.00

Cast Integers 8/5 to decimal:

select cast(8/5 as decimal(11,4));    //prints 1.6000

Cast string to decimal:

select cast(".885" as decimal(11,3));   //prints 0.885

Cast two int variables into a decimal

mysql> select 5 into @myvar1;
Query OK, 1 row affected (0.00 sec)

mysql> select 8 into @myvar2;
Query OK, 1 row affected (0.00 sec)

mysql> select @myvar1/@myvar2;   //prints 0.6250

Cast decimal back to string:

select cast(1.552 as char(10));   //shows "1.552"

Inclement

Answer 3

DECIMAL has two parts: Precision and Scale. So part of your query will look like this:

CAST((COUNT(*) * 1.5) AS DECIMAL(8,2))

Precision represents the number of significant digits that are stored for values.
Scale represents the number of digits that can be stored following the decimal point.

Sulphanilamide

Answer 4

I'm lazy:

0 + colname

Furthermore, this works for fixed with any number of decimal places, float, etc.

See also ROUND() and FORMAT().

Danika

Answer 5

An alternative, I think for your purpose, is to use the round() function:

select round((10 * 1.5),2) // prints 15.00

You can try it here:

Spadefish