order by for varchar datatype column with numeric values

[rompicherla]

Hai every body,


i am using postgres 7.3 version, For a varchar (string) data column, in this column i filled the numbers (1,2,3 ...10,11,..... etc) alone. i sorted this column, but sorting values are comming 1,10,11,2,20.... etc like. but i need 1,2,3,10,22 like.
please tell me the solution for this problem.

thanks and regards,

[michaelb]

If you always have integer values on this column it's better to define it as integer type, not a varchar.

As for your questions try one of the following:

select * from tab_name order by column_name::integer;
select * from tab_name order by cast(column_name AS integer);
select * from tab_name order by int8 (column_name);
 

You can replace * with column_name or whatever select list you may need