Working with hex numbers in MySQL?

In order to work with hex, use the CONV() function to convert between bases. The syntax is as follows −

SET anyVariableName = CONV(yourHexValue,16,10);

To understand the above syntax, let us create a stored procedure. The query to create a stored procedure is as follows −

mysql> DELIMITER //
mysql> CREATE PROCEDURE SP_HEX_TO_DEC( HEXVALUE VARCHAR(10) )
   -> BEGIN
   -> DECLARE Decimalvalue INTEGER;
   -> SET Decimalvalue = CONV(HEXVALUE,16,10);
   -> select Decimalvalue;
   -> END;
   -> //
Query OK, 0 rows affected (0.19 sec)
mysql> DELIMITER ;

The above stored procedure converts the hexadecimal to decimal. As we know the A represents 10 in decimal, we will pass A as the parameter. Call the stored procedure using CALL command.

The syntax is as follows −

CALL yourStoredProcedureName;

Call the above stored procedure using CALL command. The query is as follows −

mysql> call SP_HEX_TO_DEC('A');

The following is the output displaying the decimal value calculated using the stored procedure created above −

+--------------+
| Decimalvalue |
+--------------+
| 10           |
+--------------+
1 row in set (0.00 sec)
Query OK, 0 rows affected (0.01 sec)

Check with select statement directly.

mysql> select conv('AB',16,10) as DecimalResult;

The following is the output −

+---------------+
| DecimalResult |
+---------------+
| 171           |
+---------------+
1 row in set (0.00 sec)

Let us now see the procedure to convert hex to decimal. Remember this rule −

A and B represented as 10 and 11 respectively in hexadecimal.
To convert it into decimal rule is as follows:
N ………+value3 *162 +value2 *161 + value1 * 160
= 10 * 161 + 11 * 160
= 160+11
= 171.