Category: ASE: Operators

ASE Bit operators, Bit operators,

A bit operator is part of a database query. Using bit operators it is possible to directly display the binary representation of numbers.

Bit Operators and Examples

• & (ampersand) - AND

      select 5 & 3
  
      go
  
      -----
  
      1
      

    returns 1 (0101 & 0011 = 0001)
  
  
• | (vertical bar, pipe) - OR

      select 5 | 2
  
      go
  
      -----
  
      7
      

    returns 7 (0101 | 0010 = 0111)
  
  
• ˆ (circumflex) - EXOR

      select 5 ˆ 3
  
      go
  
      -----
  
      6
      

    returns 6 (0101 ˆ 0011 = 0110)
  
  
• ~ (tilde) - NOT

      select ~1
  
      go
  
      -----
  
      -2
      

    returns -2 (~0001 = 1110)
  
  

Examples and rules for bit manipulation

AND - & (ampersand)

Using the bit operator &, one can test if a given number is odd or even. It is sufficient to test if bit 0 (i.e. the first bit) is set, that means it has a value of "1" (odd) or not, that means it is set to "0" (even).

    select 55 & 7

    go

    -----

    7
    

The above example returns 7.

OR - | (vertical bar, pipe)

With the help of bitwise OR additional bits can be systematically set or unset.

    select 1|126

    go

    -----

    127
    

The above example returns 127.

EXOR - ˆ (circumflex)

The exclusive OR operator will only then return 1, if both bits are set different. This is useful to switch certain bits. All bits set will be unset and vice versa.

    select 20ˆ55

    go

    -----

    35
    

The above example returns 35.

NOT - ~ (tilde)

The NOT operator (~) inverts every single bit of a given number. With signed datatypes, this will result in a negation with subsequent subtraction of 1.

    select ~20

    go

    -----

    -21
    

The above example returns -21.

See also:

Numeric Operators,
Pattern Matching Operators.