How to use the CAST function in a MySQL SELECT statement?

The CAST() function in MySQL converts a value of any type into a value that has a specified type. Let us first create a table −

mysql> create table castFunctionDemo
   -> (
   -> ShippingDate date
   -> );
Query OK, 0 rows affected (0.74 sec)

Following is the query to insert some records in the table using insert command −

mysql> insert into castFunctionDemo values('2019-01-31');
Query OK, 1 row affected (0.20 sec)

mysql> insert into castFunctionDemo values('2018-07-12');
Query OK, 1 row affected (0.16 sec)

mysql> insert into castFunctionDemo values('2016-12-06');
Query OK, 1 row affected (0.16 sec)

mysql> insert into castFunctionDemo values('2017-08-25');
Query OK, 1 row affected (0.19 sec)

Following is the query to display all records from the table using select statement −

mysql> select * from castFunctionDemo;

This will produce the following output −

+--------------+
| ShippingDate |
+--------------+
| 2019-01-31   |
| 2018-07-12   |
| 2016-12-06   |
| 2017-08-25   |
+--------------+
4 rows in set (0.00 sec)

Here is the query to use the cast() function correctly in a MySQL select statement −

mysql> select CAST(ShippingDate AS CHAR(12)) as Conversion FROM castFunctionDemo;

This will produce the following output −

+------------+
| Conversion |
+------------+
| 2019-01-31 |
| 2018-07-12 |
| 2016-12-06 |
| 2017-08-25 |
+------------+
4 rows in set (0.00 sec)