Oracle SQL: the Essential Reference

LPAD

LPAD(string1, n[, string2])

Pads the left side of string1 with spaces, or with copies of the character string specified by string2, until the size of the resulting string reaches n characters.

Parameters

string1

Specifies the string that you want padded.

n

Specifies the number of characters that you want in the result.

string2

Specifies the character sequence used to pad the input string to reach the desired length. This parameter defaults to a single space.

Example

SQL> SELECT LPAD('X',3), LPAD('X',3,'Y'), LPAD('RIGHT',12,'LEFT')
  2  FROM dual;

LPA LPA LPAD('RIGHT'
--- --- ------------
  X YYX LEFTLEFTRIGHT