asp.net + mysql datatype

[max_dev2006 yahoo com]

hi is there any function to convert mysql string datatype to int datatype. I need to search data records from a table between certain price values.now this price values are stored in mysql as varchar type. And I need to compare it with certain price range which obviously is double or int type, but how can i compare int and string . it gives error. any help is appreciated, thx, max