LENGTH function [String]

Returns the number of characters in the specified string.

Syntax 
LENGTH( string-expression )
Parameters

  • string-expression   The string.

Returns

INT

Remarks

Use this function to determine the length of a string. For example, specify a column name for string-expression to determine the length of values in the column.

If the string contains multibyte characters, and the proper collation is being used, LENGTH returns the number of characters, not the number of bytes. If the string is of data type BINARY, the LENGTH function behaves as the BYTE_LENGTH function.

Note

You can use the LENGTH function and the CHAR_LENGTH function interchangeably for CHAR, VARCHAR, LONG VARCHAR, and NCHAR data types. However, you must use the LENGTH function for BINARY and bit array data types.

This function supports NCHAR inputs and/or outputs.

See also
Standards and compatibility

  • SQL/2003   Vendor extension.

Example

The following statement returns the value 9.

SELECT LENGTH( 'chocolate' );
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