{"id":867,"date":"2016-07-14T10:52:05","date_gmt":"2016-07-14T10:52:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sqltutorial.org\/?page_id=867"},"modified":"2025-02-04T07:05:13","modified_gmt":"2025-02-04T14:05:13","slug":"sql-length","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.sqltutorial.org\/sql-string-functions\/sql-length\/","title":{"rendered":"SQL LENGTH Function"},"content":{"rendered":"\r\n

Summary<\/strong>: in this tutorial, you will learn how to use the SQL LENGTH<\/code> function to get the number of characters in a string.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Introduction to the SQL LENGTH function #<\/a><\/h2>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

The SQL LENGTH<\/code> function returns the number of characters in a\u00a0string. The LENGTH<\/code> function is available in every relational database system. Some database systems use a LEN<\/code> function that has the same effect as the LENGTH<\/code> function.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Here’s the syntax of the LENGTH<\/code> function:<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n

LENGTH(string)<\/code><\/span>Code language:<\/span> SQL (Structured Query Language)<\/span> (<\/span>sql<\/span>)<\/span><\/small><\/pre>\r\n\r\n\r\n
If the input string<\/code> is empty, the LENGTH<\/code> returns 0<\/code>. If it is NULL, the function returns NULL<\/code>.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
The number of characters is the same as the number of bytes for ASCII strings. For other character sets, they may be different.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
Basic SQL LENGTH Function example #<\/a><\/h2>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
The following statement uses the LENGTH<\/code> function to return the number of characters in the string SQL<\/code>:<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n
SELECT<\/span>\r\n  LENGTH<\/span>('SQL'<\/span>) string_length;<\/code><\/span>Code language:<\/span> SQL (Structured Query Language)<\/span> (<\/span>sql<\/span>)<\/span><\/small><\/pre>\r\n\r\n\r\n
Output:<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n
 string_length\r\n---------------<\/span>\r\n             3<\/code><\/span>Code language:<\/span> SQL (Structured Query Language)<\/span> (<\/span>sql<\/span>)<\/span><\/small><\/pre>\r\n\r\n\r\n
Using the LENGTH function with table data #<\/a><\/h2>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
We’ll use the following employees<\/code> table from the sample database<\/a>:
\"SQL<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
The following query uses the LENGTH<\/code> function with CONCAT<\/a><\/code> function to return the top five employees with the longest names:<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n
SELECT<\/span>\r\n  CONCAT<\/span>(first_name, ' '<\/span>, last_name) AS<\/span> full_name,\r\n  LENGTH<\/span>(CONCAT<\/span>(first_name, ' '<\/span>, last_name)) AS<\/span> name_length\r\nFROM<\/span>\r\n  employees\r\nORDER<\/span> BY<\/span>\r\n  name_length DESC<\/span>\r\nFETCH<\/span> FIRST<\/span>\r\n  5<\/span> ROWS<\/span> ONLY<\/span>;<\/code><\/span>Code language:<\/span> SQL (Structured Query Language)<\/span> (<\/span>sql<\/span>)<\/span><\/small><\/pre>\r\n\r\n\r\n
Output:<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n
     full_name     | name_length\r\n-------------------+-------------\r\n Jose Manuel Urman |          17\r\n Irene Mikkilineni |          17\r\n Michael Hartstein |          17\r\n Alexander Hunold  |          16\r\n Karen Colmenares  |          16<\/code><\/span><\/pre>\r\n\r\n\r\n
How the query works.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
Try it<\/a><\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
Try it<\/a><\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
The LENGTH<\/code> function returns the number of bytes in some relational database systems such as MySQL and PostgreSQL. To get the number of characters in a string in MySQL and PostgreSQL, you use the CHAR_LENGTH<\/code><\/a> function instead.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n