versioned_docs/version-3.0/sql-manual/sql-functions/ip-functions/ipv6-string-to-num-or-null.md

---
{
"title": "IPV6_STRING_TO_NUM_OR_NULL",
"language": "en"
}
---

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## IPV6_STRING_TO_NUM_OR_NULL

IPV6_STRING_TO_NUM_OR_NULL

### Description

#### Syntax

`VARCHAR IPV6_STRING_TO_NUM_OR_NULL(VARCHAR ipv6_string)`

`VARCHAR INET6_ATON(VARCHAR ipv6_string)`

The reverse function of IPv6NumToString, it takes an IP address String and returns an IPv6 address in binary format. 
If the input string contains a valid IPv4 address, returns its IPv6 equivalent.

#### Notice

If an illegal IP address is entered, `NULL` is returned. This function has an alias `INET6_ATON`.

### Example
```sql
mysql> select hex(ipv6_string_to_num_or_null('1111::ffff'));
+-----------------------------------------------+
| hex(ipv6_string_to_num_or_null('1111::ffff')) |
+-----------------------------------------------+
| 1111000000000000000000000000FFFF              |
+-----------------------------------------------+
1 row in set (0.01 sec)

mysql> select hex(ipv6_string_to_num_or_null('192.168.0.1'));
+------------------------------------------------+
| hex(ipv6_string_to_num_or_null('192.168.0.1')) |
+------------------------------------------------+
| 00000000000000000000FFFFC0A80001               |
+------------------------------------------------+
1 row in set (0.02 sec)

mysql> select hex(ipv6_string_to_num_or_null('notaaddress'));
+------------------------------------------------+
| hex(ipv6_string_to_num_or_null('notaaddress')) |
+------------------------------------------------+
| NULL                                           |
+------------------------------------------------+
1 row in set (0.02 sec)
```

### Keywords

IPV6_STRING_TO_NUM_OR_NULL, INET6_ATON, IP