{"id":1080,"date":"2018-01-13T06:38:31","date_gmt":"2018-01-13T13:38:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sqltutorial.org\/?page_id=1080"},"modified":"2025-04-11T17:59:49","modified_gmt":"2025-04-12T00:59:49","slug":"sql-string-functions","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.sqltutorial.org\/sql-string-functions\/","title":{"rendered":"SQL String Functions"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>This page provides some handy SQL string functions that allow you to manipulate character strings more effectively.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group\"><div class=\"wp-block-group__inner-container is-layout-constrained wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\">\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id='basic-string-manipulation-functions'>Section 1. Basic String Manipulation Functions <a href=\"#basic-string-manipulation-functions\" class=\"anchor\" id=\"basic-string-manipulation-functions\" title=\"Anchor for Section 1. Basic String Manipulation Functions\">#<\/a><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.sqltutorial.org\/sql-string-functions\/sql-length\/\">LENGTH<\/a> &#8211; Returns the string&#8217;s length.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.sqltutorial.org\/sql-string-functions\/sql-position\/\">POSITION<\/a> &#8211; Returns the position of a substring within a string.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.sqltutorial.org\/sql-string-functions\/sql-substring\/\">SUBSTRING<\/a> &#8211; Extracts a substring from a string based on position and length.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group\"><div class=\"wp-block-group__inner-container is-layout-constrained wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\">\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id='string-concatenation-functions'>Section 2. String Concatenation Functions <a href=\"#string-concatenation-functions\" class=\"anchor\" id=\"string-concatenation-functions\" title=\"Anchor for Section 2. String Concatenation Functions\">#<\/a><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul start=\"8\" class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.sqltutorial.org\/sql-string-functions\/sql-concat\/\">CONCAT<\/a> &#8211; Returns a new string that results from concatenating from two or more strings.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group\"><div class=\"wp-block-group__inner-container is-layout-constrained wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\">\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id='search-and-replace-functions'>Section 3. Search and Replace Functions <a href=\"#search-and-replace-functions\" class=\"anchor\" id=\"search-and-replace-functions\" title=\"Anchor for Section 3. Search and Replace Functions\">#<\/a><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul start=\"12\" class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.sqltutorial.org\/sql-string-functions\/sql-replace\/\">REPLACE<\/a> &#8211; Returns a new string with all occurrences of a substring in a string replaced with another new substring.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group\"><div class=\"wp-block-group__inner-container is-layout-constrained wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\">\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id='trimming-characters'>Section 4. Trimming Characters <a href=\"#trimming-characters\" class=\"anchor\" id=\"trimming-characters\" title=\"Anchor for Section 4. Trimming Characters\">#<\/a><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul start=\"14\" class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.sqltutorial.org\/sql-string-functions\/sql-trim\/\">TRIM<\/a> &#8211; Returns a new string with all leading, trailing, or both specified characters removed from a string.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.sqltutorial.org\/sql-string-functions\/sql-ltrim\/\">LTRIM<\/a> &#8211; Returns a new string with all leading whitespace or specified characters removed.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.sqltutorial.org\/sql-string-functions\/sql-rtrim\/\">RTRIM <\/a>&#8211; Returns a new string with all trailing whitespace or specified characters removed.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group\"><div class=\"wp-block-group__inner-container is-layout-constrained wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\">\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id='case-conversion-functions'>Section 5. Case Conversion Functions <a href=\"#case-conversion-functions\" class=\"anchor\" id=\"case-conversion-functions\" title=\"Anchor for Section 5. Case Conversion Functions\">#<\/a><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul start=\"19\" class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.sqltutorial.org\/sql-string-functions\/sql-upper\/\">UPPER<\/a> &#8211; Returns a new string with all characters converted to uppercase.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.sqltutorial.org\/sql-string-functions\/sql-lower\/\">LOWER<\/a> &#8211; Returns a new string with all characters converted to lowercase.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group\"><div class=\"wp-block-group__inner-container is-layout-constrained wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\">\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id='positioning-indexing-functions'>Section 6. Positioning &amp; Indexing Functions <a href=\"#positioning-indexing-functions\" class=\"anchor\" id=\"positioning-indexing-functions\" title=\"Anchor for Section 6. Positioning &amp; Indexing Functions\">#<\/a><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul start=\"20\" class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.sqltutorial.org\/sql-string-functions\/sql-left\/\">LEFT<\/a> &#8211; Returns the leftmost n characters of a string.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.sqltutorial.org\/sql-string-functions\/sql-right\/\">RIGHT<\/a> &#8211; Returns the rightmost n characters of a string.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>INSTR, LOCATE &#8211; Returns the position of the first occurrence of a substring.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>CHARINDEX &#8211; Returns the starting position of a substring.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group\"><div class=\"wp-block-group__inner-container is-layout-constrained wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\">\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id='string-aggregation'>Section 7. String Aggregation <a href=\"#string-aggregation\" class=\"anchor\" id=\"string-aggregation\" title=\"Anchor for Section 7. String Aggregation\">#<\/a><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul start=\"25\" class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>STRING_AGG &#8211; Return the aggregated string from a set of strings.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group\"><div class=\"wp-block-group__inner-container is-layout-constrained wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\">\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id='encoding-and-decoding-characters'>Section 8. Encoding and Decoding Characters <a href=\"#encoding-and-decoding-characters\" class=\"anchor\" id=\"encoding-and-decoding-characters\" title=\"Anchor for Section 8. Encoding and Decoding Characters\">#<\/a><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul start=\"26\" class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.sqltutorial.org\/sql-string-functions\/sql-ascii\/\">ASCII<\/a> &#8211; Returns the ASCII code of the first character in a string.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.sqltutorial.org\/sql-string-functions\/sql-chr\/\">CHR<\/a> &#8211; Returns the character corresponding to an ASCII code.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group\"><div class=\"wp-block-group__inner-container is-layout-constrained wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\">\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id='regex-operations'>Section 9. Regex Operations <a href=\"#regex-operations\" class=\"anchor\" id=\"regex-operations\" title=\"Anchor for Section 9. Regex Operations\">#<\/a><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul start=\"30\" class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>REGEXP_MATCH &#8211; Returns true if a string matches a regular expression.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>REGEXP_REPLACE &#8211; Returns a new string with portions replaced based on a regular expression.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>REGEXP_SUBSTR &#8211; Returns a substring from a string based on a regular expression.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group\"><div class=\"wp-block-group__inner-container is-layout-constrained wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\">\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id='padding-strings'>Section 10. Padding Strings <a href=\"#padding-strings\" class=\"anchor\" id=\"padding-strings\" title=\"Anchor for Section 10. Padding Strings\">#<\/a><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul start=\"37\" class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.sqltutorial.org\/sql-string-functions\/sql-lpad\/\">LPAD<\/a> &#8211; Returns a new string with specified characters padded on the left to a certain length.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.sqltutorial.org\/sql-string-functions\/sql-rpad\/\">RPAD<\/a> &#8211; Returns a new string with specified characters padded on the right to a certain length.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group\"><div class=\"wp-block-group__inner-container is-layout-constrained wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\">\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id='utility-functions'>Section 11. Utility Functions <a href=\"#utility-functions\" class=\"anchor\" id=\"utility-functions\" title=\"Anchor for Section 11. Utility Functions\">#<\/a><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul start=\"39\" class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>QUOTE &#8211; Returns a string surrounded by quotes.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>UNQUOTE &#8211; Returns a string with quotes removed from a string.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>SOUNDEX &#8211; Returns the phonetic representation of a string.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>DIFFERENCE &#8211; Returns the difference between two strings using their SOUNDEX values.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>This page provides some handy SQL string functions that allow you to manipulate character strings more effectively.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":64,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-1080","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>SQL 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