This section describes functions and operators for examining and manipulating BLOB values.

Name	Description
blob || blob	BLOB concatenation.
base64(blob)	Converts a blob to a base64 encoded string.
decode(blob)	Converts blob to VARCHAR. Fails if blob is not valid UTF-8.
encode(string)	Converts the string to BLOB. Converts UTF-8 characters into literal encoding.
from_base64(string)	Converts a base64 encoded string to a character string (BLOB).
from_binary(value)	Converts a value from binary representation to a blob.
from_hex(value)	Converts a value from hexadecimal representation to a blob.
hex(blob)	Converts blob to VARCHAR using hexadecimal encoding.
octet_length(blob)	Number of bytes in blob.
read_blob(source)	Returns the content from source (a filename, a list of filenames, or a glob pattern) as a BLOB. See the read_blob guide for more details.
to_base64(blob)	Converts a blob to a base64 encoded string.
to_hex(blob)	Converts blob to VARCHAR using hexadecimal encoding.
unbin(value)	Converts a value from binary representation to a blob.
unhex(value)	Converts a value from hexadecimal representation to a blob.

blob || blob

Description	BLOB concatenation.
Example	'\xAA'::BLOB || '\xBB'::BLOB
Result	\xAA\xBB

base64(blob)

Description	Converts a blob to a base64 encoded string.
Example	base64('A'::BLOB)
Result	QQ==

decode(blob)

Description	Convert blob to VARCHAR. Fails if blob is not valid UTF-8.
Example	decode('\xC3\xBC'::BLOB)
Result	ü

encode(string)

Description	Converts the string to BLOB. Converts UTF-8 characters into literal encoding.
Example	encode('my_string_with_ü')
Result	my_string_with_\xC3\xBC

from_base64(string)

Description	Converts a base64 encoded string to a character string (BLOB).
Example	from_base64('QQ==')
Result	A

from_binary(value)

Description	Converts a value from binary representation to a blob.
Example	unbin('0110')
Result	\x06

from_hex(value)

Description	Converts a value from hexadecimal representation to a blob.
Example	unhex('2A')
Result	*

hex(blob)

Description	Converts blob to VARCHAR using hexadecimal encoding.
Example	hex('\xAA\xBB'::BLOB)
Result	AABB

octet_length(blob)

Description	Number of bytes in blob.
Example	octet_length('\xAA\xBB'::BLOB)
Result	2

read_blob(source)

Description	Returns the content from source (a filename, a list of filenames, or a glob pattern) as a BLOB. See the read_blob guide for more details.
Example	read_blob('hello.bin')
Result	hello\x0A

to_base64(blob)

Description	Converts a blob to a base64 encoded string.
Example	base64('A'::BLOB)
Result	QQ==

to_hex(blob)

Description	Converts blob to VARCHAR using hexadecimal encoding.
Example	hex('\xAA\xBB'::BLOB)
Result	AABB

unbin(value)

Description	Converts a value from binary representation to a blob.
Example	unbin('0110')
Result	\x06

unhex(value)

Description	Converts a value from hexadecimal representation to a blob.
Example	unhex('2A')
Result	*