> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://mariadb.com/docs/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://mariadb.com/docs/server/reference/sql-functions/vector-functions/vec_totext.md).
# VEC\_ToText
WEBINAR
The Next Generation of MariaDB: Powered by Vector Search
{% hint style="info" %}
[Vectors](/docs/server/reference/sql-structure/vectors.md) are available from [MariaDB 11.7](/docs/release-notes/community-server/old-releases/11.7/what-is-mariadb-117.md).
{% endhint %}
## Syntax
```bnf
VEC_ToText(v)
```
## Description
`VEC_ToText` converts a binary vector into a json array of numbers (floats). Returns `NULL` and throws a warning [Error 4201](/docs/server/reference/error-codes/mariadb-error-codes-4200-to-4299/e4201.md) if given an invalid vector.
## Example
```sql
SELECT VEC_ToText(x'e360d63ebe554f3fcdbc523f4522193f5236083d');
+---------------------------------------------------------+
| VEC_ToText(x'e360d63ebe554f3fcdbc523f4522193f5236083d') |
+---------------------------------------------------------+
| [0.418708,0.809902,0.823193,0.598179,0.033255] |
+---------------------------------------------------------+
```
Invalid vector:
```sql
SELECT VEC_ToText(x'aabbcc');
+-----------------------+
| VEC_ToText(x'aabbcc') |
+-----------------------+
| NULL |
+-----------------------+
1 row in set, 1 warning (0.000 sec)
Warning (Code 4201): Invalid binary vector format. Must use IEEE standard float
representation in little-endian format. Use VEC_FromText() to generate it.
```
## See Also
* [Error 4201: Invalid binary vector format](/docs/server/reference/error-codes/mariadb-error-codes-4200-to-4299/e4201.md)
*This page is licensed: CC BY-SA / Gnu FDL*
{% @marketo/form formId="4316" %}