Sams Teach Yourself SQL in 24 Hours, Second Edition

Miscellaneous Character Functions

The following sections show a few other character functions worth mentioning. Once again, these are functions that are fairly common among major implementations.

Finding a Value's Length

The LENGTH function is a common function used to find the length of a string, number, date, or expression in bytes. The syntax is

LENGTH(CHARACTER STRING)

Example	Meaning
SELECT LENGTH FROM EMPLOYEE_TBL;	This SQL statement (LAST_NAME) returns the length of the last name for each employee.

							SELECT PROD_DESC, LENGTH(PROD_DESC)
							FROM PRODUCTS_TBL;
						

 PROD_DESC LENGTH(PROD_DESC) ------------------------ ----------------- WITCHES COSTUME 15 PLASTIC PUMPKIN 18 INCH 23 FALSE PARAFFIN TEETH 19 LIGHTED LANTERNS 16 ASSORTED COSTUMES ...