LEN (Transact-SQL)
Returns the number of characters of the specified string expression, excluding trailing blanks.
Note
To return the number of bytes used to represent an expression, use the DATALENGTH function.
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Transact-SQL Syntax Conventions
Syntax
LEN ( string_expression )
Arguments
- string_expression
Is the string expression to be evaluated.
Return Types
bigint if expression is of the varchar(max), nvarchar(max) or varbinary(max) data types; otherwise, int.
Examples
The following example selects the number of characters and the data in FirstName for people located in Australia.
USE AdventureWorks;
GO
SELECT LEN(FirstName) AS Length, FirstName, LastName
FROM Sales.vIndividualCustomer
WHERE CountryRegionName = 'Australia';
GO
See Also
Reference
Data Types (Transact-SQL)
String Functions (Transact-SQL)
DATALENGTH (Transact-SQL)
LEFT (Transact-SQL)
RIGHT (Transact-SQL)