{"id":1903,"date":"2025-02-04T11:31:13","date_gmt":"2025-02-04T04:31:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pgtutorial.com\/?page_id=1903"},"modified":"2025-02-04T11:34:55","modified_gmt":"2025-02-04T04:34:55","slug":"postgresql-substring","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.pgtutorial.com\/postgresql-string-functions\/postgresql-substring\/","title":{"rendered":"PostgreSQL SUBSTRING Function"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong>Summary<\/strong>: in this tutorial, you&#8217;ll learn how to use the PostgreSQL <code>SUBSTRING<\/code> function to extract the substring from a string.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id='introduction-to-the-postgresql-substring-function'>Introduction to the PostgreSQL SUBSTRING function <a href=\"#introduction-to-the-postgresql-substring-function\" class=\"anchor\" id=\"introduction-to-the-postgresql-substring-function\" title=\"Anchor for Introduction to the PostgreSQL SUBSTRING function\">#<\/a><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The PostgreSQL <code>SUBSTRING()<\/code> function allows you to extract a substring of a string starting at a position (<code>start<\/code>) and stopping after <code>n<\/code> characters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Here&#8217;s the basic syntax of the substring function:<\/p>\n\n\n<pre class=\"wp-block-code\" aria-describedby=\"shcb-language-1\" data-shcb-language-name=\"PostgreSQL SQL dialect and PL\/pgSQL\" data-shcb-language-slug=\"pgsql\"><span><code class=\"hljs language-pgsql\">SUBSTRING (string &#91;<span class=\"hljs-keyword\">FROM<\/span> <span class=\"hljs-keyword\">start<\/span>] &#91;<span class=\"hljs-keyword\">FOR<\/span> count])<\/code><\/span><small class=\"shcb-language\" id=\"shcb-language-1\"><span class=\"shcb-language__label\">Code language:<\/span> <span class=\"shcb-language__name\">PostgreSQL SQL dialect and PL\/pgSQL<\/span> <span class=\"shcb-language__paren\">(<\/span><span class=\"shcb-language__slug\">pgsql<\/span><span class=\"shcb-language__paren\">)<\/span><\/small><\/pre>\n\n\n<p>The <code>SUBSTRING()<\/code> function accepts three parameters:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><code>string<\/code>: The input string you want to extract a substring.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><code>start<\/code>: The beginning position in the input string to start extracting. The <code>start<\/code> is optional and defaults to 1, the beginning of the input string.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><code>count<\/code>: The number of characters to extract. The <code>count<\/code> is optional and defaults to the length of the input string.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>The <code>SUBSTRING()<\/code> function returns the substring extracted from the input string.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id='basic-postgresql-substring-function-examples'>Basic PostgreSQL SUBSTRING function examples <a href=\"#basic-postgresql-substring-function-examples\" class=\"anchor\" id=\"basic-postgresql-substring-function-examples\" title=\"Anchor for Basic PostgreSQL SUBSTRING function examples\">#<\/a><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The following query uses the <code>SUBSTRING()<\/code> function to extract the domain extension:<\/p>\n\n\n<pre class=\"wp-block-code\" aria-describedby=\"shcb-language-2\" data-shcb-language-name=\"PostgreSQL SQL dialect and PL\/pgSQL\" data-shcb-language-slug=\"pgsql\"><span><code class=\"hljs language-pgsql\"><span class=\"hljs-keyword\">SELECT<\/span>\n  SUBSTRING(\n    <span class=\"hljs-string\">'pgtutorial.com'<\/span>\n    <span class=\"hljs-keyword\">FROM<\/span>\n      <span class=\"hljs-number\">12<\/span> <span class=\"hljs-keyword\">FOR<\/span> <span class=\"hljs-number\">3<\/span>\n  ) <span class=\"hljs-keyword\">extension<\/span>;<\/code><\/span><small class=\"shcb-language\" id=\"shcb-language-2\"><span class=\"shcb-language__label\">Code language:<\/span> <span class=\"shcb-language__name\">PostgreSQL SQL dialect and PL\/pgSQL<\/span> <span class=\"shcb-language__paren\">(<\/span><span class=\"shcb-language__slug\">pgsql<\/span><span class=\"shcb-language__paren\">)<\/span><\/small><\/pre>\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.pgtutorial.com\/playground\/?q=U0VMRUNUIFNVQlNUUklORyggJ3BndHV0b3JpYWwuY29tJyBGUk9NIDEyIEZPUiAzICkgZXh0ZW5zaW9uOw%3D%3D\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Try it<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Output:<\/p>\n\n\n<pre class=\"wp-block-code\" aria-describedby=\"shcb-language-3\" data-shcb-language-name=\"PostgreSQL SQL dialect and PL\/pgSQL\" data-shcb-language-slug=\"pgsql\"><span><code class=\"hljs language-pgsql\"> <span class=\"hljs-keyword\">extension<\/span>\n<span class=\"hljs-comment\">-----------<\/span>\n com<\/code><\/span><small class=\"shcb-language\" id=\"shcb-language-3\"><span class=\"shcb-language__label\">Code language:<\/span> <span class=\"shcb-language__name\">PostgreSQL SQL dialect and PL\/pgSQL<\/span> <span class=\"shcb-language__paren\">(<\/span><span class=\"shcb-language__slug\">pgsql<\/span><span class=\"shcb-language__paren\">)<\/span><\/small><\/pre>\n\n\n<p>To make the query more generic, you can combine the <code>SUBSTRING<\/code> function with the <code>POSITION<\/code> function:<\/p>\n\n\n<pre class=\"wp-block-code\" aria-describedby=\"shcb-language-4\" data-shcb-language-name=\"PostgreSQL SQL dialect and PL\/pgSQL\" data-shcb-language-slug=\"pgsql\"><span><code class=\"hljs language-pgsql\"><span class=\"hljs-keyword\">SELECT<\/span>\n  SUBSTRING(\n    <span class=\"hljs-string\">'pgtutorial.com'<\/span>\n    <span class=\"hljs-keyword\">FROM<\/span>\n      POSITION(<span class=\"hljs-string\">'.'<\/span> <span class=\"hljs-keyword\">IN<\/span> <span class=\"hljs-string\">'pgtutorial.com'<\/span>) + <span class=\"hljs-number\">1<\/span> <span class=\"hljs-keyword\">FOR<\/span> <span class=\"hljs-number\">3<\/span>\n  ) <span class=\"hljs-keyword\">extension<\/span>;<\/code><\/span><small class=\"shcb-language\" id=\"shcb-language-4\"><span class=\"shcb-language__label\">Code language:<\/span> <span class=\"shcb-language__name\">PostgreSQL SQL dialect and PL\/pgSQL<\/span> <span class=\"shcb-language__paren\">(<\/span><span class=\"shcb-language__slug\">pgsql<\/span><span class=\"shcb-language__paren\">)<\/span><\/small><\/pre>\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.pgtutorial.com\/playground\/?q=U0VMRUNUIFNVQlNUUklORyggJ3BndHV0b3JpYWwuY29tJyBGUk9NIFBPU0lUSU9OKCcuJyBJTiAncGd0dXRvcmlhbC5jb20nKSArIDEgRk9SIDMgKSBleHRlbnNpb247\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Try it<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Output:<\/p>\n\n\n<pre class=\"wp-block-code\" aria-describedby=\"shcb-language-5\" data-shcb-language-name=\"PostgreSQL SQL dialect and PL\/pgSQL\" data-shcb-language-slug=\"pgsql\"><span><code class=\"hljs language-pgsql\"> <span class=\"hljs-keyword\">extension<\/span>\n<span class=\"hljs-comment\">-----------<\/span>\n com<\/code><\/span><small class=\"shcb-language\" id=\"shcb-language-5\"><span class=\"shcb-language__label\">Code language:<\/span> <span class=\"shcb-language__name\">PostgreSQL SQL dialect and PL\/pgSQL<\/span> <span class=\"shcb-language__paren\">(<\/span><span class=\"shcb-language__slug\">pgsql<\/span><span class=\"shcb-language__paren\">)<\/span><\/small><\/pre>\n\n\n<p>In this example:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>First, the <code>POSITION<\/code> function returns the character&#8217;s starting position (.) in the domain name.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Second, the <code>SUBSTRING<\/code> extracts three characters starting from the character&#8217;s position (.) plus one.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>The following example extracts the extension of the domain pgtutorial.com without using the count argument:<\/p>\n\n\n<pre class=\"wp-block-code\" aria-describedby=\"shcb-language-6\" data-shcb-language-name=\"PostgreSQL SQL dialect and PL\/pgSQL\" data-shcb-language-slug=\"pgsql\"><span><code class=\"hljs language-pgsql\"><span class=\"hljs-keyword\">SELECT<\/span>\n  SUBSTRING(\n    <span class=\"hljs-string\">'pgtutorial.com'<\/span>\n    <span class=\"hljs-keyword\">FROM<\/span>\n      POSITION(<span class=\"hljs-string\">'.'<\/span> <span class=\"hljs-keyword\">IN<\/span> <span class=\"hljs-string\">'pgtutorial.com'<\/span>) + <span class=\"hljs-number\">1<\/span>\n  ) <span class=\"hljs-keyword\">extension<\/span>;<\/code><\/span><small class=\"shcb-language\" id=\"shcb-language-6\"><span class=\"shcb-language__label\">Code language:<\/span> <span class=\"shcb-language__name\">PostgreSQL SQL dialect and PL\/pgSQL<\/span> <span class=\"shcb-language__paren\">(<\/span><span class=\"shcb-language__slug\">pgsql<\/span><span class=\"shcb-language__paren\">)<\/span><\/small><\/pre>\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.pgtutorial.com\/playground\/?q=U0VMRUNUIFNVQlNUUklORyggJ3BndHV0b3JpYWwuY29tJyBGUk9NIFBPU0lUSU9OKCcuJyBJTiAncGd0dXRvcmlhbC5jb20nKSArIDEgKSBleHRlbnNpb247\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Try it<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Output:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In this example, the <code>SUBSTRING()<\/code> function returns a substring starting from the character&#8217;s position (<code>.<\/code>) to the end of the string.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The following query uses the <code>SUBSTRING()<\/code> function to extract the domain name without extension:<\/p>\n\n\n<pre class=\"wp-block-code\" aria-describedby=\"shcb-language-7\" data-shcb-language-name=\"PostgreSQL SQL dialect and PL\/pgSQL\" data-shcb-language-slug=\"pgsql\"><span><code class=\"hljs language-pgsql\"><span class=\"hljs-keyword\">SELECT<\/span>\n  SUBSTRING(\n    <span class=\"hljs-string\">'pgtutorial.com'<\/span> <span class=\"hljs-keyword\">FOR<\/span> POSITION(<span class=\"hljs-string\">'.'<\/span> <span class=\"hljs-keyword\">IN<\/span> <span class=\"hljs-string\">'pgtutorial.com'<\/span>) - <span class=\"hljs-number\">1<\/span>\n  );<\/code><\/span><small class=\"shcb-language\" id=\"shcb-language-7\"><span class=\"shcb-language__label\">Code language:<\/span> <span class=\"shcb-language__name\">PostgreSQL SQL dialect and PL\/pgSQL<\/span> <span class=\"shcb-language__paren\">(<\/span><span class=\"shcb-language__slug\">pgsql<\/span><span class=\"shcb-language__paren\">)<\/span><\/small><\/pre>\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.pgtutorial.com\/playground\/?q=U0VMRUNUIFNVQlNUUklORyggJ3BndHV0b3JpYWwuY29tJyBGT1IgUE9TSVRJT04oJy4nIElOICdwZ3R1dG9yaWFsLmNvbScpIC0gMSApOw%3D%3D\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Try it<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Output:<\/p>\n\n\n<pre class=\"wp-block-code\" aria-describedby=\"shcb-language-8\" data-shcb-language-name=\"plaintext\" data-shcb-language-slug=\"plaintext\"><span><code class=\"hljs language-plaintext\"> substring\n------------\n pgtutorial<\/code><\/span><small class=\"shcb-language\" id=\"shcb-language-8\"><span class=\"shcb-language__label\">Code language:<\/span> <span class=\"shcb-language__name\">plaintext<\/span> <span class=\"shcb-language__paren\">(<\/span><span class=\"shcb-language__slug\">plaintext<\/span><span class=\"shcb-language__paren\">)<\/span><\/small><\/pre>\n\n\n<p>In this example:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>First, the <code>POSITION<\/code> returns the index of the character (<code>.<\/code>) in the domain name.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Second, the <code>SUBSTRING<\/code> returns a substring from index <code>1<\/code> (default) to the location before the character (<code>.<\/code>).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id='creating-a-user-defined-function-that-uses-the-substring-function'>Creating a user-defined function that uses the SUBSTRING function <a href=\"#creating-a-user-defined-function-that-uses-the-substring-function\" class=\"anchor\" id=\"creating-a-user-defined-function-that-uses-the-substring-function\" title=\"Anchor for Creating a user-defined function that uses the SUBSTRING function\">#<\/a><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The following statement <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pgtutorial.com\/plpgsql\/plpgsql-functions\/\">creates a user-defined function<\/a> called <code>extract_domain<\/code> that extracts domain and extension from a domain name using the <code>SUBSTRING<\/code> function:<\/p>\n\n\n<pre class=\"wp-block-code\" aria-describedby=\"shcb-language-9\" data-shcb-language-name=\"PostgreSQL SQL dialect and PL\/pgSQL\" data-shcb-language-slug=\"pgsql\"><span><code class=\"hljs language-pgsql\"><span class=\"hljs-keyword\">CREATE<\/span> <span class=\"hljs-keyword\">OR REPLACE<\/span> <span class=\"hljs-keyword\">FUNCTION<\/span> extract_domain (domain_name <span class=\"hljs-type\">TEXT<\/span>) \n  <span class=\"hljs-keyword\">RETURNS<\/span> <span class=\"hljs-keyword\">TABLE<\/span> (\n      <span class=\"hljs-keyword\">domain<\/span> <span class=\"hljs-type\">TEXT<\/span>, \n      <span class=\"hljs-keyword\">extension<\/span> <span class=\"hljs-type\">TEXT<\/span>\n) <span class=\"hljs-keyword\">AS<\/span> \n$$<span class=\"pgsql\">\n<span class=\"hljs-keyword\">DECLARE<\/span>\n   dot_index <span class=\"hljs-type\">INT<\/span>;\n<span class=\"hljs-keyword\">BEGIN<\/span>\n   dot_index := POSITION(<span class=\"hljs-string\">'.'<\/span> <span class=\"hljs-keyword\">IN<\/span> domain_name);\n   <span class=\"hljs-keyword\">RETURN QUERY<\/span>\n   <span class=\"hljs-keyword\">SELECT<\/span>\n      SUBSTRING(domain_name <span class=\"hljs-keyword\">FROM<\/span> <span class=\"hljs-number\">1<\/span> <span class=\"hljs-keyword\">FOR<\/span> dot_index - <span class=\"hljs-number\">1<\/span>),\n      SUBSTRING(domain_name <span class=\"hljs-keyword\">FROM<\/span> dot_index + <span class=\"hljs-number\">1<\/span>);\n<span class=\"hljs-keyword\">END<\/span>;\n\n$$<\/span> <span class=\"hljs-keyword\">LANGUAGE<\/span> plpgsql;<\/code><\/span><small class=\"shcb-language\" id=\"shcb-language-9\"><span class=\"shcb-language__label\">Code language:<\/span> <span class=\"shcb-language__name\">PostgreSQL SQL dialect and PL\/pgSQL<\/span> <span class=\"shcb-language__paren\">(<\/span><span class=\"shcb-language__slug\">pgsql<\/span><span class=\"shcb-language__paren\">)<\/span><\/small><\/pre>\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.pgtutorial.com\/playground\/?q=Q1JFQVRFIE9SIFJFUExBQ0UgRlVOQ1RJT04gZXh0cmFjdF9kb21haW4gKGRvbWFpbl9uYW1lIFRFWFQpIAogIFJFVFVSTlMgVEFCTEUgKAogICAgICBkb21haW4gVEVYVCwgCiAgICAgIGV4dGVuc2lvbiBURVhUCikgQVMgCiQkCkRFQ0xBUkUKICAgZG90X2luZGV4IElOVDsKQkVHSU4KICAgZG90X2luZGV4IDo9IFBPU0lUSU9OKCcuJyBJTiBkb21haW5fbmFtZSk7CiAgIFJFVFVSTiBRVUVSWQogICBTRUxFQ1QKICAgICAgU1VCU1RSSU5HKGRvbWFpbl9uYW1lIEZST00gMSBGT1IgZG90X2luZGV4IC0gMSksCiAgICAgIFNVQlNUUklORyhkb21haW5fbmFtZSBGUk9NIGRvdF9pbmRleCArIDEpOwpFTkQ7CgokJCBMQU5HVUFHRSBwbHBnc3FsOw%3D%3D\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Try it<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>How it works:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>First, find the index of the dot character (<code>.<\/code>) using the <code>POSITION<\/code> function:<\/p>\n\n\n<pre class=\"wp-block-code\" aria-describedby=\"shcb-language-10\" data-shcb-language-name=\"PostgreSQL SQL dialect and PL\/pgSQL\" data-shcb-language-slug=\"pgsql\"><span><code class=\"hljs language-pgsql\">dot_index := POSITION(<span class=\"hljs-string\">'.'<\/span> <span class=\"hljs-keyword\">IN<\/span> domain_name);<\/code><\/span><small class=\"shcb-language\" id=\"shcb-language-10\"><span class=\"shcb-language__label\">Code language:<\/span> <span class=\"shcb-language__name\">PostgreSQL SQL dialect and PL\/pgSQL<\/span> <span class=\"shcb-language__paren\">(<\/span><span class=\"shcb-language__slug\">pgsql<\/span><span class=\"shcb-language__paren\">)<\/span><\/small><\/pre>\n\n\n<p>Second, use the <code>SUBSTRING()<\/code> function to extract the domain name and extension from the domain name based on the dot index.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The following statement calls the <code>extract_domain<\/code> function to extract parts of the domain name <code>pgtutorial.com<\/code>:<\/p>\n\n\n<pre class=\"wp-block-code\" aria-describedby=\"shcb-language-11\" data-shcb-language-name=\"PostgreSQL SQL dialect and PL\/pgSQL\" data-shcb-language-slug=\"pgsql\"><span><code class=\"hljs language-pgsql\"><span class=\"hljs-keyword\">SELECT<\/span>\n  <span class=\"hljs-keyword\">domain<\/span>,\n  <span class=\"hljs-keyword\">extension<\/span>\n<span class=\"hljs-keyword\">FROM<\/span>\n  extract_domain (<span class=\"hljs-string\">'pgtutorial.com'<\/span>);<\/code><\/span><small class=\"shcb-language\" id=\"shcb-language-11\"><span class=\"shcb-language__label\">Code language:<\/span> <span class=\"shcb-language__name\">PostgreSQL SQL dialect and PL\/pgSQL<\/span> <span class=\"shcb-language__paren\">(<\/span><span class=\"shcb-language__slug\">pgsql<\/span><span class=\"shcb-language__paren\">)<\/span><\/small><\/pre>\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.pgtutorial.com\/playground\/?q=U0VMRUNUIGRvbWFpbiwgZXh0ZW5zaW9uIEZST00gZXh0cmFjdF9kb21haW4gKCdwZ3R1dG9yaWFsLmNvbScpOw%3D%3D\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Try it<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Output:<\/p>\n\n\n<pre class=\"wp-block-code\" aria-describedby=\"shcb-language-12\" data-shcb-language-name=\"plaintext\" data-shcb-language-slug=\"plaintext\"><span><code class=\"hljs language-plaintext\">   domain   | extension\n------------+-----------\n pgtutorial | com<\/code><\/span><small class=\"shcb-language\" id=\"shcb-language-12\"><span class=\"shcb-language__label\">Code language:<\/span> <span class=\"shcb-language__name\">plaintext<\/span> <span class=\"shcb-language__paren\">(<\/span><span class=\"shcb-language__slug\">plaintext<\/span><span class=\"shcb-language__paren\">)<\/span><\/small><\/pre>\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id='extracting-a-substring-based-on-a-regular-expression'>Extracting a substring based on a regular expression <a href=\"#extracting-a-substring-based-on-a-regular-expression\" class=\"anchor\" id=\"extracting-a-substring-based-on-a-regular-expression\" title=\"Anchor for Extracting a substring based on a regular expression\">#<\/a><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Here&#8217;s another form of the <code>SUBSTRING()<\/code> function that extracts a substring from an input string based on a regular expression:<\/p>\n\n\n<pre class=\"wp-block-code\" aria-describedby=\"shcb-language-13\" data-shcb-language-name=\"PostgreSQL SQL dialect and PL\/pgSQL\" data-shcb-language-slug=\"pgsql\"><span><code class=\"hljs language-pgsql\">SUBSTRING(\u00a0string <span class=\"hljs-keyword\">FROM<\/span> pattern )<\/code><\/span><small class=\"shcb-language\" id=\"shcb-language-13\"><span class=\"shcb-language__label\">Code language:<\/span> <span class=\"shcb-language__name\">PostgreSQL SQL dialect and PL\/pgSQL<\/span> <span class=\"shcb-language__paren\">(<\/span><span class=\"shcb-language__slug\">pgsql<\/span><span class=\"shcb-language__paren\">)<\/span><\/small><\/pre>\n\n\n<p>This function returns the first substring in the string that matches the regular expression.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For example, the following query uses the <code>SUBSTRING()<\/code> function to pull the domain name from the email <code>\"hello@pgtutorial.com\"<\/code>:<\/p>\n\n\n<pre class=\"wp-block-code\" aria-describedby=\"shcb-language-14\" data-shcb-language-name=\"PostgreSQL SQL dialect and PL\/pgSQL\" data-shcb-language-slug=\"pgsql\"><span><code class=\"hljs language-pgsql\"><span class=\"hljs-keyword\">SELECT<\/span>\n  SUBSTRING(\n    <span class=\"hljs-string\">'hello@pgtutorial.com'<\/span>\n    <span class=\"hljs-keyword\">FROM<\/span>\n      <span class=\"hljs-string\">'@(.*)'<\/span>\n  ) domain_name;<\/code><\/span><small class=\"shcb-language\" id=\"shcb-language-14\"><span class=\"shcb-language__label\">Code language:<\/span> <span class=\"shcb-language__name\">PostgreSQL SQL dialect and PL\/pgSQL<\/span> <span class=\"shcb-language__paren\">(<\/span><span class=\"shcb-language__slug\">pgsql<\/span><span class=\"shcb-language__paren\">)<\/span><\/small><\/pre>\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.pgtutorial.com\/playground\/?q=U0VMRUNUIFNVQlNUUklORyggJ2hlbGxvQHBndHV0b3JpYWwuY29tJyBGUk9NICdAKC4qKScgKSBkb21haW5fbmFtZTs%3D\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Try it<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Output:<\/p>\n\n\n<pre class=\"wp-block-code\" aria-describedby=\"shcb-language-15\" data-shcb-language-name=\"plaintext\" data-shcb-language-slug=\"plaintext\"><span><code class=\"hljs language-plaintext\">  domain_name\n----------------\n pgtutorial.com<\/code><\/span><small class=\"shcb-language\" id=\"shcb-language-15\"><span class=\"shcb-language__label\">Code language:<\/span> <span class=\"shcb-language__name\">plaintext<\/span> <span class=\"shcb-language__paren\">(<\/span><span class=\"shcb-language__slug\">plaintext<\/span><span class=\"shcb-language__paren\">)<\/span><\/small><\/pre>\n\n\n<p>Heres&#8217; the breakdown of the pattern <code>@(.*)<\/code>  :<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><code>@<\/code>: A @ symbol.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><code>(.*)<\/code> : A capturing group that matches any number of characters <code>(.*)<\/code>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>In short, the regular expression <code>@(.*)<\/code> matches everything after the character (<code>@<\/code>).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id='extracting-a-substring-similar-to-a-regular-expression'>Extracting a substring similar to a regular expression <a href=\"#extracting-a-substring-similar-to-a-regular-expression\" class=\"anchor\" id=\"extracting-a-substring-similar-to-a-regular-expression\" title=\"Anchor for Extracting a substring similar to a regular expression\">#<\/a><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The following <code>SUBSTRING()<\/code> function extracts a substring that matches a regular expression, which is similar to the <code><a href=\"https:\/\/www.pgtutorial.com\/postgresql-tutorial\/postgresql-like\/\">LIKE<\/a><\/code> operator but supports regular expression-like syntax:<\/p>\n\n\n<pre class=\"wp-block-code\" aria-describedby=\"shcb-language-16\" data-shcb-language-name=\"PostgreSQL SQL dialect and PL\/pgSQL\" data-shcb-language-slug=\"pgsql\"><span><code class=\"hljs language-pgsql\">SUBSTRING (string\u00a0<span class=\"hljs-keyword\">SIMILAR<\/span>\u00a0pattern\u00a0<span class=\"hljs-keyword\">ESCAPE<\/span>\u00a0escape_character)<\/code><\/span><small class=\"shcb-language\" id=\"shcb-language-16\"><span class=\"shcb-language__label\">Code language:<\/span> <span class=\"shcb-language__name\">PostgreSQL SQL dialect and PL\/pgSQL<\/span> <span class=\"shcb-language__paren\">(<\/span><span class=\"shcb-language__slug\">pgsql<\/span><span class=\"shcb-language__paren\">)<\/span><\/small><\/pre>\n\n\n<p>In this syntax:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><code>string<\/code>: The input text.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><code>pattern<\/code>: A pattern with regex-like syntax.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><code>escape_character<\/code>: An optional escape character for the regular expression.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>For example, the following query uses the <code>SUBSTRING()<\/code> function to retrieve the product with a name ending with two digits:<\/p>\n\n\n<pre class=\"wp-block-code\" aria-describedby=\"shcb-language-17\" data-shcb-language-name=\"PostgreSQL SQL dialect and PL\/pgSQL\" data-shcb-language-slug=\"pgsql\"><span><code class=\"hljs language-pgsql\"><span class=\"hljs-keyword\">SELECT<\/span>\n  SUBSTRING(product_name <span class=\"hljs-keyword\">SIMILAR<\/span> <span class=\"hljs-string\">'%\\d{2}'<\/span> <span class=\"hljs-keyword\">ESCAPE<\/span> <span class=\"hljs-string\">'\\'<\/span>) <span class=\"hljs-keyword\">AS<\/span> <span class=\"hljs-type\">name<\/span>\n<span class=\"hljs-keyword\">FROM<\/span>\n  products\n<span class=\"hljs-keyword\">WHERE<\/span>\n  SUBSTRING(product_name <span class=\"hljs-keyword\">SIMILAR<\/span> <span class=\"hljs-string\">'%\\d{2}'<\/span> <span class=\"hljs-keyword\">ESCAPE<\/span> <span class=\"hljs-string\">'\\'<\/span>) <span class=\"hljs-keyword\">IS<\/span> <span class=\"hljs-keyword\">NOT<\/span> <span class=\"hljs-keyword\">NULL<\/span>;<\/code><\/span><small class=\"shcb-language\" id=\"shcb-language-17\"><span class=\"shcb-language__label\">Code language:<\/span> <span class=\"shcb-language__name\">PostgreSQL SQL dialect and PL\/pgSQL<\/span> <span class=\"shcb-language__paren\">(<\/span><span class=\"shcb-language__slug\">pgsql<\/span><span class=\"shcb-language__paren\">)<\/span><\/small><\/pre>\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.pgtutorial.com\/playground\/?q=U0VMRUNUIFNVQlNUUklORyhwcm9kdWN0X25hbWUgU0lNSUxBUiAnJVxkezJ9JyBFU0NBUEUgJ1wnKSBBUyBuYW1lIEZST00gcHJvZHVjdHMgV0hFUkUgU1VCU1RSSU5HKHByb2R1Y3RfbmFtZSBTSU1JTEFSICclXGR7Mn0nIEVTQ0FQRSAnXCcpIElTIE5PVCBOVUxMOw%3D%3D\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Try it<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Output:<\/p>\n\n\n<pre class=\"wp-block-code\" aria-describedby=\"shcb-language-18\" data-shcb-language-name=\"plaintext\" data-shcb-language-slug=\"plaintext\"><span><code class=\"hljs language-plaintext\">        name\n--------------------\n Samsung Galaxy S24\n Apple iPhone 15\n Huawei Mate 60\n Xiaomi Mi 14\n Dell XPS 15\n HP Spectre x360\n Dell Inspiron 27<\/code><\/span><small class=\"shcb-language\" id=\"shcb-language-18\"><span class=\"shcb-language__label\">Code language:<\/span> <span class=\"shcb-language__name\">plaintext<\/span> <span class=\"shcb-language__paren\">(<\/span><span class=\"shcb-language__slug\">plaintext<\/span><span class=\"shcb-language__paren\">)<\/span><\/small><\/pre>\n\n\n<p>In this example, the pattern <code>%\\d{2}<\/code> matches any string that ends with two digits.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id='summary'>Summary <a href=\"#summary\" class=\"anchor\" id=\"summary\" title=\"Anchor for Summary\">#<\/a><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Use PostgreSQL <code>SUBSTRING<\/code> functions to extract a substring from a string.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<div class=\"helpful-block-content\" data-title=\"\">\n\t<header>\n\t\t<div class=\"wth-question\">Was this tutorial helpful ?<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"wth-thumbs\">\n\t\t\t<button\n\t\t\t\tdata-post=\"1903\"\n\t\t\t\tdata-post-url=\"https:\/\/www.pgtutorial.com\/postgresql-string-functions\/postgresql-substring\/\"\n\t\t\t\tdata-post-title=\"PostgreSQL SUBSTRING Function\"\n\t\t\t\tdata-response=\"1\"\n\t\t\t\tclass=\"wth-btn-rounded wth-yes-btn\"\n\t\t\t>\n\t\t\t\t<svg\n\t\t\t\t\txmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\"\n\t\t\t\t\tviewBox=\"0 0 24 24\"\n\t\t\t\t\tfill=\"none\"\n\t\t\t\t\tstroke=\"currentColor\"\n\t\t\t\t\tstroke-width=\"2\"\n\t\t\t\t\tstroke-linecap=\"round\"\n\t\t\t\t\tstroke-linejoin=\"round\"\n\t\t\t\t\tclass=\"feather feather-thumbs-up block w-full h-full\"\n\t\t\t\t>\n\t\t\t\t\t<path\n\t\t\t\t\t\td=\"M14 9V5a3 3 0 0 0-3-3l-4 9v11h11.28a2 2 0 0 0 2-1.7l1.38-9a2 2 0 0 0-2-2.3zM7 22H4a2 2 0 0 1-2-2v-7a2 2 0 0 1 2-2h3\"\n\t\t\t\t\t><\/path>\n\t\t\t\t<\/svg>\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"sr-only\"> Yes <\/span>\n\t\t\t<\/button>\n\n\t\t\t<button\n\t\t\t\tdata-response=\"0\"\n\t\t\t\tdata-post=\"1903\"\n\t\t\t\tdata-post-url=\"https:\/\/www.pgtutorial.com\/postgresql-string-functions\/postgresql-substring\/\"\n\t\t\t\tdata-post-title=\"PostgreSQL SUBSTRING Function\"\n\t\t\t\tclass=\"wth-btn-rounded wth-no-btn\"\n\t\t\t>\n\t\t\t\t<svg\n\t\t\t\t\txmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\"\n\t\t\t\t\tviewBox=\"0 0 24 24\"\n\t\t\t\t\tfill=\"none\"\n\t\t\t\t\tstroke=\"currentColor\"\n\t\t\t\t\tstroke-width=\"2\"\n\t\t\t\t\tstroke-linecap=\"round\"\n\t\t\t\t\tstroke-linejoin=\"round\"\n\t\t\t\t>\n\t\t\t\t\t<path\n\t\t\t\t\t\td=\"M10 15v4a3 3 0 0 0 3 3l4-9V2H5.72a2 2 0 0 0-2 1.7l-1.38 9a2 2 0 0 0 2 2.3zm7-13h2.67A2.31 2.31 0 0 1 22 4v7a2.31 2.31 0 0 1-2.33 2H17\"\n\t\t\t\t\t><\/path>\n\t\t\t\t<\/svg>\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"sr-only\"> No <\/span>\n\t\t\t<\/button>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/header>\n\n\t<div class=\"wth-form hidden\">\n\t\t<div class=\"wth-form-wrapper\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"wth-title\"><\/div>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t<textarea class=\"wth-message\"><\/textarea>\n\n\t\t\t<button class=\"btn btn-primary wth-btn-submit\">Send<\/button>\n\t\t\t<button class=\"btn wth-btn-cancel\">Cancel<\/button>\n\t\t\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In this tutorial, you&#8217;ll learn how to use the PostgreSQL SUBSTRING function to extract the substring from a string.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":1800,"menu_order":16,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-1903","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>PostgreSQL SUBSTRING Functions<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"In this tutorial, you&#039;ll learn how to use PostgreSQL SUBSTRING functions to extract the substring from a string.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.pgtutorial.com\/postgresql-string-functions\/postgresql-substring\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"PostgreSQL SUBSTRING Functions\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"In this tutorial, you&#039;ll learn how to use PostgreSQL SUBSTRING functions to extract the substring from a string.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.pgtutorial.com\/postgresql-string-functions\/postgresql-substring\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"PostgreSQL Tutorial\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-02-04T04:34:55+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pgtutorial.com\\\/postgresql-string-functions\\\/postgresql-substring\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pgtutorial.com\\\/postgresql-string-functions\\\/postgresql-substring\\\/\",\"name\":\"PostgreSQL SUBSTRING Functions\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pgtutorial.com\\\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2025-02-04T04:31:13+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-02-04T04:34:55+00:00\",\"description\":\"In this tutorial, you'll learn how to use PostgreSQL SUBSTRING functions to extract the substring from a string.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pgtutorial.com\\\/postgresql-string-functions\\\/postgresql-substring\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pgtutorial.com\\\/postgresql-string-functions\\\/postgresql-substring\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pgtutorial.com\\\/postgresql-string-functions\\\/postgresql-substring\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pgtutorial.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"PostgreSQL String Functions\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pgtutorial.com\\\/postgresql-string-functions\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"PostgreSQL SUBSTRING Function\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pgtutorial.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pgtutorial.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"PostgreSQL Tutorial\",\"description\":\"Learn PostgreSQL from Scratch\",\"alternateName\":\"PostgreSQL\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pgtutorial.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"PostgreSQL SUBSTRING Functions","description":"In this tutorial, you'll learn how to use PostgreSQL SUBSTRING functions to extract the substring from a string.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.pgtutorial.com\/postgresql-string-functions\/postgresql-substring\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"PostgreSQL SUBSTRING Functions","og_description":"In this tutorial, you'll learn how to use PostgreSQL SUBSTRING functions to extract the substring from a string.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.pgtutorial.com\/postgresql-string-functions\/postgresql-substring\/","og_site_name":"PostgreSQL Tutorial","article_modified_time":"2025-02-04T04:34:55+00:00","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.pgtutorial.com\/postgresql-string-functions\/postgresql-substring\/","url":"https:\/\/www.pgtutorial.com\/postgresql-string-functions\/postgresql-substring\/","name":"PostgreSQL SUBSTRING Functions","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.pgtutorial.com\/#website"},"datePublished":"2025-02-04T04:31:13+00:00","dateModified":"2025-02-04T04:34:55+00:00","description":"In this tutorial, you'll learn how to use PostgreSQL SUBSTRING functions to extract the substring from a string.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.pgtutorial.com\/postgresql-string-functions\/postgresql-substring\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.pgtutorial.com\/postgresql-string-functions\/postgresql-substring\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.pgtutorial.com\/postgresql-string-functions\/postgresql-substring\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.pgtutorial.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"PostgreSQL String Functions","item":"https:\/\/www.pgtutorial.com\/postgresql-string-functions\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"PostgreSQL SUBSTRING Function"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.pgtutorial.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.pgtutorial.com\/","name":"PostgreSQL Tutorial","description":"Learn PostgreSQL from Scratch","alternateName":"PostgreSQL","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.pgtutorial.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pgtutorial.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1903","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pgtutorial.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pgtutorial.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pgtutorial.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pgtutorial.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1903"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/www.pgtutorial.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1903\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1911,"href":"https:\/\/www.pgtutorial.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1903\/revisions\/1911"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pgtutorial.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1800"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pgtutorial.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1903"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}