SQL: Visual QuickStart Guide

Finding the Length of a String with CHARACTER_LENGTH()

Use the CHARACTER_LENGTH() function to return the number of characters in a string. The CHARACTER_LENGTH() function’s important characteristics are:

• CHARACTER_LENGTH() returns an integer greater than or equal to zero.

• CHARACTER_LENGTH() counts characters, not bytes. A multibyte or Unicode character represents one character. (To count bytes, see the Tips in this section.)

• The length of an empty string is zero.

• If its argument is null, CHARACTER_LENGTH() returns null. (But see the Oracle exception in the DBMS Tip in this section.)

To find the length of a string:

• Type:

  CHARACTER_LENGTH(string)
  

  string is a string expression such as a column that contains character strings, a string literal, ...