DIGITS

The DIGITS function returns a character string representation of the absolute value of a number.


>>-DIGITS(numeric-expression)----------------------------------><

The schema is SYSIBM.

The argument must be an expression that returns a value that is a SMALLINT, INTEGER, BIGINT, or DECIMAL built-in numeric data type.

The result of the function is a fixed-length character string representing the absolute value of the argument without regard to its scale. The result does not include a sign or a decimal point. Instead, it consists exclusively of digits, including, if necessary, leading zeros to fill out the string. The length of the string is:

5 if the argument is a small integer
10 if the argument is a large integer
19 if the argument is a big integer
p if the argument is a decimal number with a precision of p

The result can be null; if the argument is null, the result is the null value.

The CCSID of the result is determined from the context in which the function was invoked. For more information, see Determining the encoding scheme and CCSID of a string.

Example 1: Assume that an INTEGER column called INTCOL containing a 10-digit number is in a table called TABLEX. INTCOL has the data type INTEGER instead of CHAR(10) to save space. the following query lists all combinations of the first four digits in column INTCOL.

   SELECT DISTINCT SUBSTR(DIGITS(INTCOL),1,4)
     FROM TABLEX;

Example 2: Assume that COLUMNX has the data type DECIMAL(6,2), and that one of its values is -6.28. For this value, the following statement returns the value '000628'.

   DIGITS(COLUMNX)

The result is a string of length six (the precision of the column) with leading zeros padding the string out to this length. Neither sign nor decimal point appear in the result.