Amazon Redshift will no longer support the creation of new Python UDFs starting Patch 198. Existing Python UDFs will continue to function until June 30, 2026. For more information, see the [ blog post ](https://aws.amazon.com/blogs/big-data/amazon-redshift-python-user-defined-functions-will-reach-end-of-support-after-june-30-2026/). 

# TO\_VARBYTE function
<a name="r_TO_VARBYTE"></a>

TO\_VARBYTE converts a string in a specified format to a binary value. 

## Syntax
<a name="r_TO_VARBYTE-synopsis"></a>

```
TO_VARBYTE(string, format)
```

## Arguments
<a name="r_TO_VARBYTE-arguments"></a>

 *string*   
A `CHAR` or `VARCHAR` string. 

 *format*   
The format of the input string. Case insensitive valid values are `hex`, `binary`, `utf8` (also `utf-8` and `utf_8`), and `base64`. 

## Return type
<a name="r_TO_VARBYTE-return-type"></a>

`VARBYTE`

## Examples
<a name="r_TO_VARBYTE-examples"></a>

To convert the hex `6162` to a binary value, use the following example. The result is automatically shown as the hexadecimal representation of the binary value.

```
SELECT TO_VARBYTE('6162', 'hex');
               
+------------+
| to_varbyte |
+------------+
|       6162 |
+------------+
```

To return the binary representation of `4d`, use the following example. The binary representation of '4d' is `01001101`.

```
SELECT TO_VARBYTE('01001101', 'binary');
               
+------------+
| to_varbyte |
+------------+
|         4d |
+------------+
```

To convert the string `'a'` in UTF-8 to a binary value, use the following example. The result is automatically shown as the hexadecimal representation of the binary value.

```
SELECT TO_VARBYTE('a', 'utf8');
               
+------------+
| to_varbyte |
+------------+
|         61 |
+------------+
```

To convert the string `'4'` in hexadecimal to a binary value, use the following example. If the hexadecimal string length is an odd number, then a `0` is prepended to form a valid hexadecimal number.

```
SELECT TO_VARBYTE('4', 'hex');
               
+------------+
| to_varbyte |
+------------+
|         04 |
+------------+
```