Questions about converting to int in Sqlite

For SQL Server, a number of Convert.ToX(value) functions are translated to CONVERT(X, @value) which is great. I’m particularly interested in Convert.ToInt32.

Like many I use Sqlite for unit testing and found that it’s not translated for Sqlite. I do see a slew of new function mappings for 6.0 which is cool.

My question are:

1. Is Convert.ToInt32 (and similar) on the cards for Sqlite?
2. The translation for Convert.ToInt32 in SQL Server uses CONVERT, which is semantically the closest, but my understanding is that CAST functions very similarly- and because CAST is an ANSI-SQL standard, could a general relational translation be provided instead of a SQL Server specific one? I’m genuinely interested to learn about the subtle differences and the decision making process behind function mapping choices.
3. I don’t think I can add CAST using DbContext.HasDbFunction (for either SQL Server or Sqlite) due to its unusual syntax, i.e. not just taking a parameter but also as int/integer - is this correct or are there any workarounds?

EF Core version: Tried 3.1.13 / 5.0.4 / 6.0 preview 2 Database provider: Microsoft.EntityFrameworkCore.Sqlite

[bricelam]

SQLite provides an extension for a UINT collation that ignores leading zeros. You could also re-implement it in C#:

sqliteConnection.CreateCollation(
    "UINT",
    // NB: This isn't a true re-implementation of SQLite's UINT collation, but should work for you
    (x, y) => long.Parse(x).CompareTo(long.Parse(y)));

var max = context.Entities.Max(e => EF.Functions.Collate(e.PaddedProperty, "UINT"));

[stevendarby]

Thank you @bricelam, that’s a good tip. I probably wasn’t clear enough that I’m writing primarily against SQL Server, and was hoping to find something that worked against SQLite in unit tests too. That’s why I sought a function mapping for CAST which works for both. However always good to pick up new tips!