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Data Transformation Language (DTL) Functions Reference
Complete reference for Data Transformation Language functions in SAP Data Intelligence.
Table of Contents
- Overview
- String Functions
- Numeric Functions
- Date and Time Functions
- Data Type Conversion Functions
- Miscellaneous Functions
Overview
Data Transformation Language (DTL) provides SQL-like functions for data processing in:
- Data Transform operator
- Data preparation tools
- Structured data operators
Syntax Pattern:
FUNCTION_NAME(argument1, argument2, ...)
String Functions
Functions for extracting, manipulating, and returning string information.
CONCAT
Concatenates two or more strings.
CONCAT(string1, string2 [, string3, ...])
Example:
CONCAT('Hello', ' ', 'World') -- Returns: 'Hello World'
SUBSTRING
Extracts a portion of a string.
SUBSTRING(string, start_position [, length])
Example:
SUBSTRING('SAP Data Intelligence', 5, 4) -- Returns: 'Data'
SUBSTRAFTER
Returns substring after the first occurrence of a delimiter.
SUBSTRAFTER(string, delimiter)
Example:
SUBSTRAFTER('user@domain.com', '@') -- Returns: 'domain.com'
SUBSTRBEFORE
Returns substring before the first occurrence of a delimiter.
SUBSTRBEFORE(string, delimiter)
Example:
SUBSTRBEFORE('user@domain.com', '@') -- Returns: 'user'
LEFT
Returns leftmost characters of a string.
LEFT(string, length)
Example:
LEFT('SAP Data', 3) -- Returns: 'SAP'
RIGHT
Returns rightmost characters of a string.
RIGHT(string, length)
Example:
RIGHT('SAP Data', 4) -- Returns: 'Data'
LENGTH
Returns the length of a string.
LENGTH(string)
Example:
LENGTH('SAP') -- Returns: 3
UPPER / UCASE
Converts string to uppercase.
UPPER(string)
UCASE(string)
Example:
UPPER('sap data') -- Returns: 'SAP DATA'
LOWER / LCASE
Converts string to lowercase.
LOWER(string)
LCASE(string)
Example:
LOWER('SAP DATA') -- Returns: 'sap data'
TRIM
Removes leading and trailing spaces.
TRIM(string)
Example:
TRIM(' SAP ') -- Returns: 'SAP'
LTRIM
Removes leading spaces.
LTRIM(string)
RTRIM
Removes trailing spaces.
RTRIM(string)
LPAD
Pads string on the left to specified length.
LPAD(string, length [, pad_string])
Example:
LPAD('42', 5, '0') -- Returns: '00042'
RPAD
Pads string on the right to specified length.
RPAD(string, length [, pad_string])
Example:
RPAD('SAP', 6, 'X') -- Returns: 'SAPXXX'
REPLACE
Replaces occurrences of a substring.
REPLACE(string, search_string, replace_string)
Example:
REPLACE('SAP HANA', 'HANA', 'DI') -- Returns: 'SAP DI'
LOCATE
Returns position of substring in string.
LOCATE(string, substring [, start_position])
Example:
LOCATE('SAP Data Intelligence', 'Data') -- Returns: 5
ASCII
Returns ASCII code of first character.
ASCII(string)
Example:
ASCII('A') -- Returns: 65
CHAR
Returns character for ASCII code.
CHAR(integer)
Example:
CHAR(65) -- Returns: 'A'
Numeric Functions
Functions for mathematical operations on numeric data.
ABS
Returns absolute value.
ABS(number)
Example:
ABS(-42) -- Returns: 42
CEIL
Rounds up to nearest integer.
CEIL(number)
Example:
CEIL(4.2) -- Returns: 5
FLOOR
Rounds down to nearest integer.
FLOOR(number)
Example:
FLOOR(4.8) -- Returns: 4
ROUND
Rounds to specified decimal places.
ROUND(number [, decimal_places])
Example:
ROUND(3.14159, 2) -- Returns: 3.14
MOD
Returns remainder of division.
MOD(dividend, divisor)
Example:
MOD(10, 3) -- Returns: 1
POWER
Returns base raised to exponent.
POWER(base, exponent)
Example:
POWER(2, 3) -- Returns: 8
SQRT
Returns square root.
SQRT(number)
Example:
SQRT(16) -- Returns: 4
EXP
Returns e raised to power.
EXP(number)
Example:
EXP(1) -- Returns: 2.71828...
LN
Returns natural logarithm.
LN(number)
Example:
LN(2.71828) -- Returns: ~1
LOG
Returns logarithm with specified base.
LOG(base, number)
Example:
LOG(10, 100) -- Returns: 2
SIGN
Returns sign of number (-1, 0, or 1).
SIGN(number)
Example:
SIGN(-42) -- Returns: -1
UMINUS
Returns negation of number.
UMINUS(number)
Example:
UMINUS(42) -- Returns: -42
RAND
Returns random number between 0 and 1.
RAND()
Date and Time Functions
Functions for date and time operations.
CURRENT_UTCDATE
Returns current UTC date.
CURRENT_UTCDATE()
CURRENT_UTCTIME
Returns current UTC time.
CURRENT_UTCTIME()
CURRENT_UTCTIMESTAMP
Returns current UTC timestamp.
CURRENT_UTCTIMESTAMP()
ADD_DAYS
Adds days to a date.
ADD_DAYS(date, days)
Example:
ADD_DAYS('2025-01-01', 30) -- Returns: '2025-01-31'
ADD_MONTHS
Adds months to a date.
ADD_MONTHS(date, months)
Example:
ADD_MONTHS('2025-01-15', 2) -- Returns: '2025-03-15'
ADD_YEARS
Adds years to a date.
ADD_YEARS(date, years)
ADD_SECONDS
Adds seconds to a timestamp.
ADD_SECONDS(timestamp, seconds)
DAYS_BETWEEN
Returns days between two dates.
DAYS_BETWEEN(date1, date2)
Example:
DAYS_BETWEEN('2025-01-01', '2025-01-31') -- Returns: 30
MONTHS_BETWEEN
Returns months between two dates.
MONTHS_BETWEEN(date1, date2)
YEARS_BETWEEN
Returns years between two dates.
YEARS_BETWEEN(date1, date2)
SECONDS_BETWEEN
Returns seconds between two timestamps.
SECONDS_BETWEEN(timestamp1, timestamp2)
EXTRACT
Extracts date/time component.
EXTRACT(component FROM date_or_timestamp)
Components: YEAR, MONTH, DAY, HOUR, MINUTE, SECOND
Example:
EXTRACT(YEAR FROM '2025-06-15') -- Returns: 2025
YEAR
Returns year from date.
YEAR(date)
MONTH
Returns month from date (1-12).
MONTH(date)
DAYOFMONTH
Returns day of month (1-31).
DAYOFMONTH(date)
DAYOFYEAR
Returns day of year (1-366).
DAYOFYEAR(date)
WEEK
Returns week number (1-53).
WEEK(date)
ISOWEEK
Returns ISO week number.
ISOWEEK(date)
QUARTER
Returns quarter (1-4).
QUARTER(date)
HOUR
Returns hour (0-23).
HOUR(timestamp)
MINUTE
Returns minute (0-59).
MINUTE(timestamp)
SECOND
Returns second (0-59).
SECOND(timestamp)
DAYNAME
Returns day name.
DAYNAME(date)
Example:
DAYNAME('2025-01-01') -- Returns: 'Wednesday'
MONTHNAME
Returns month name.
MONTHNAME(date)
LAST_DAY
Returns last day of month.
LAST_DAY(date)
Example:
LAST_DAY('2025-02-15') -- Returns: '2025-02-28'
NEXT_DAY
Returns next occurrence of weekday.
NEXT_DAY(date, weekday)
Data Type Conversion Functions
Functions for converting between data types.
TO_STRING
Converts to string.
TO_STRING(value [, format])
Example:
TO_STRING(12345) -- Returns: '12345'
TO_STRING(3.14, '0.00') -- Returns: '3.14'
TO_INTEGER
Converts to integer.
TO_INTEGER(value)
Example:
TO_INTEGER('42') -- Returns: 42
TO_INTEGER(3.7) -- Returns: 3
TO_DECIMAL
Converts to decimal.
TO_DECIMAL(value [, precision, scale])
Example:
TO_DECIMAL('123.45', 10, 2) -- Returns: 123.45
TO_FLOATING
Converts to floating point.
TO_FLOATING(value)
TO_DATE
Converts to date.
TO_DATE(string [, format])
Example:
TO_DATE('2025-01-15', 'YYYY-MM-DD')
TO_DATE('15/01/2025', 'DD/MM/YYYY')
TO_TIME
Converts to time.
TO_TIME(string [, format])
Example:
TO_TIME('14:30:00', 'HH24:MI:SS')
TO_DATETIME
Converts to datetime/timestamp.
TO_DATETIME(string [, format])
Miscellaneous Functions
CASE
Conditional expression.
CASE
WHEN condition1 THEN result1
WHEN condition2 THEN result2
ELSE default_result
END
Example:
CASE
WHEN status = 'A' THEN 'Active'
WHEN status = 'I' THEN 'Inactive'
ELSE 'Unknown'
END
COALESCE
Returns first non-null value.
COALESCE(value1, value2, ...)
Example:
COALESCE(phone, mobile, 'No number') -- Returns first non-null
IFNULL
Returns second value if first is null.
IFNULL(value, replacement)
Example:
IFNULL(discount, 0) -- Returns 0 if discount is null
NULLIF
Returns null if values are equal.
NULLIF(value1, value2)
Example:
NULLIF(quantity, 0) -- Returns null if quantity is 0
GREATEST
Returns largest value.
GREATEST(value1, value2, ...)
Example:
GREATEST(10, 20, 15) -- Returns: 20
LEAST
Returns smallest value.
LEAST(value1, value2, ...)
Example:
LEAST(10, 20, 15) -- Returns: 10
MAP
Maps value to another value.
MAP(input, value1, result1 [, value2, result2, ...] [, default])
Example:
MAP(status, 'A', 'Active', 'I', 'Inactive', 'Unknown')
Documentation Links
- Function Reference: https://github.com/SAP-docs/sap-hana-cloud-data-intelligence/tree/main/docs/functionreference
- DTL Functions: https://github.com/SAP-docs/sap-hana-cloud-data-intelligence/tree/main/docs/functionreference/function-reference-for-data-transformation-language
Last Updated: 2025-11-22