title: How to use the CAST function correctly in a MySql SELECT statement?
body: <p>I'm converting an MSSQL DB to MySQL DB and I have a stored procedure that is using a cast function to convert from a datetime datatype to a varchar datatype. Whether or not this matters in php/mysql since php isn't strongly typed (and I dont know if it would matter or not) I really want to keep the SP a close to the orginal as possible so I can maintain the same expected functionality. The problem is that I can't get the cast function to work right in mysql. Here is a test I tried that got me an error:</p>
  
  <pre><code>DELIMITER ;//
  
  DROP PROCEDURE IF EXISTS `test`;//
  CREATE PROCEDURE `test`()
  BEGIN
    SELECT CAST(my_table.DateColumn AS VARCHAR(10)) as TextColumn
      FROM my_table;
  END;//
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>What am I doing wrong?</p>