BIN_TO_NUM() Function in Oracle

In Oracle Database, the BIT_TO_NUM() function converts a bit vector to its equivalent number.

Syntax

The syntax goes like this:

BIN_TO_NUM(expr [, expr ]... )

Where each expr represents a bit in the bit vector.

The argument/s can be any numeric data type, or any nonnumeric data type that can be implicitly converted to NUMBER. Each expression must evaluate to 0 or 1.

Example

Here’s an example:

SELECT BIN_TO_NUM(1)
FROM DUAL;

Result:

In this case, the binary value 1 represents the number 1.

Here’s another one:

SELECT BIN_TO_NUM(1, 0)
FROM DUAL;

Result:

Now let’s do a much larger number:

SELECT BIN_TO_NUM(1, 0, 1, 1, 1, 0)
FROM DUAL;

Result:

Invalid Arguments

Calling BIN_TO_NUM() with arguments that don’t resolve to a NUMBER result in an error:

SELECT BIN_TO_NUM('Cat')
FROM DUAL;

Result:

ORA-01722: invalid number

Null Values

If any argument is null, an “illegal argument” error occurs:

SELECT BIN_TO_NUM(null)
FROM DUAL;

Result:

ORA-01760: illegal argument for function

No Arguments?

Calling BIN_TO_NUM() without any arguments returns 0 (zero):

SELECT BIN_TO_NUM()
FROM DUAL;

Result: