SQL - TRY_PARSE() Function

---

---

The SQL TRY_PARSE() function returns a result of an expression that has been converted to the specified data type, or NULL if the conversion is unsuccessful. It functions essentially the same as the PARSE() function, with the exception that if the cast fails, it returns NULL rather than an error. The goals of both functions are to convert string values into date/time or numeric types.

Syntax

Following is the syntax of the SQL TRY_PARSE() function −

TRY_PARSE ( string_value AS data_type [ USING culture ] )  

Parameters

This function accepts only three parameter. The same is described below −

• string_value − It is the expression that we want to change to a specific data type.

• data_type − It is the datatype that we want to convert the string_value.

• culture − It is an optional parameter for which the cukture of string value is formatted..

Example

In the following example, we are going to use the TRY_PARSE() function to convert sytring to date by using the following query −

SELECT TRY_PARSE('23 February 2023' AS date) AS Result;

Output

When we execute the above query, the output is obtained as follows −

+------------------------------------+
|                              Result|
+------------------------------------+
|                         2023-02-23 |
+------------------------------------+

Example

Let's look into following example, where we are going to conver string '-1234' to int by using the following query −

SELECT TRY_PARSE('-1234' AS INT) AS Result;

Output

When we execute the above query, the output is obtained as follows −

+------------------------------------+
|                              Result|
+------------------------------------+
|                             -1234  |
+------------------------------------+

Example

Let's look into the following query, that returns NULL value as it was failed to convert string 'TUTORIALSPOINT' to int −

SELECT TRY_PARSE('TUTORIALSPOINT' AS INT) AS Result;

Output

On executing the above query, the output is displayed as follows −

+------------------------------------+
|                              Result|
+------------------------------------+
|                               NULL |
+------------------------------------+

Example

Considering the following example, where we are going to use TRY_PARESE() fuction along with case and running the following query −

SELECT  
   CASE WHEN TRY_PARSE('TUTORIALSPOINT' AS decimal USING 'lv-LV') IS NULL  
      THEN 'True'  
      ELSE 'False'  
END  AS Result;

Output

On executing the above query, the output is displayed as follows −

+-------------------+
|            Result |
+-------------------+
|        True       |
+-------------------+

Example

Let's look into the following example, where we are going convert string to datetime by running the following query −

SELECT TRY_PARSE('02/23/2023' AS DATETIME) AS Result;

Output

The output for the above query is produced as given below −

+------------------------------------+
|                              Result|
+------------------------------------+
|            2023-02-23 00:00:00.000 |
+------------------------------------+

Example

let's look into the another scenario, where we are going to convert string into datetime2 by using the following query −

SELECT TRY_PARSE('02/23/2023' AS datetime2) AS Result;  

Output

On executing the above query, it will generate the following output as shown below −

+------------------------------------+
|                              Result|
+------------------------------------+
|        2023-02-23 00:00:00.0000000 |
+------------------------------------+

Example

Let's look into the following example where we are going to convert string to decimal by using the following query −

SELECT TRY_PARSE('1234' AS DECIMAL(8, 2)) AS Result;

Output

If we compile and run the above query, the result is produced as follows −

+------------------------------------+
|                              Result|
+------------------------------------+
|                            1234.00 |
+------------------------------------+

Example

Let’s consider another example, where we are going to use the IFF statements to handle NULL values. This will be helpful when we are going to insert records. In our case, we are checking and replacing it with the current date and time by using the following query −

SELECT IIF(
   TRY_PARSE('TUTORIALSPOINT' AS DATETIME) IS NULL, 
      GETDATE(), 
      'False'
) AS Result;

Output

When the query gets executed, it will generate the output as shown below −

+------------------------------------+
|                              Result|
+------------------------------------+
|            2023-02-23 16:51:18.780 |
+------------------------------------+

Example

Considering the following example, where we are going to use try_parse along with cultural parameters by using the following query −

DECLARE @date AS VARCHAR(10)  
SET @date = '23/02/2023'  
SELECT TRY_PARSE(@date AS DATE USING 'da-DK') AS inDanish;

Output

When we execute the above query, the output is obtained as follows −

+-------------------+
|         inDanish  |
+-------------------+
|       2023-02-23  |
+-------------------+