Amazon Redshift will no longer support the use of Python UDFs after June 30, 2026. We will start enforcing it in phases. For more information on the details of Python end of life and migration options, see the blog post that was published on June 30, 2025.

IS_VARCHAR function

Checks whether a variable is a VARCHAR. The IS_VARCHAR function returns true for all strings. The function returns false for any other values.

The IS_VARCHAR function is a superset of the IS_CHAR function.

Syntax

IS_VARCHAR(super_expression)

Arguments

Return type

BOOLEAN

Examples

To check if abc is a VARCHAR using the IS_VARCHAR function, use the following example.

CREATE TABLE t(s SUPER);

INSERT INTO t VALUES ('abc');

SELECT s, IS_VARCHAR(s) FROM t;

+-------+------------+
|   s   | is_varchar |
+-------+------------+
| "abc" | true       |
+-------+------------+