The :: cast operator

IBM® Informix® SQL implements the :: cast operator and the CAST() expressions to do an explicit cast of a value:

CREATE TABLE tab ( v INTEGER )
INSERT INTO tab VALUES ( 123456::INTEGER )
SELECT 'abcdef'::CHAR(20)||'.' FROM tab 
SELECT CAST('abcdef' AS CHAR(20))||'.' FROM tab

Genero BDL does not support the :: cast operator in the static SQL grammar. However, the CAST() expressions are allowed. If you need to use the :: cast operator, you must use Dynamic SQL to perform such queries.