SQL String Functions Length
Example
SQL Server
The LEN doesn't count the trailing space.
SELECT LEN('Hello') -- returns 5
SELECT LEN('Hello '); -- returns 5
The DATALENGTH counts the trailing space.
SELECT DATALENGTH('Hello') -- returns 5
SELECT DATALENGTH('Hello '); -- returns 6
It should be noted though, that DATALENGTH returns the length of the underlying byte representation of the string, which depends, i.a., on the charset used to store the string.
DECLARE @str varchar(100) = 'Hello ' --varchar is usually an ASCII string, occupying 1 byte per char
SELECT DATALENGTH(@str) -- returns 6
DECLARE @nstr nvarchar(100) = 'Hello ' --nvarchar is a unicode string, occupying 2 bytes per char
SELECT DATALENGTH(@nstr) -- returns 12
Oracle
Syntax: Length ( char )
Examples:
SELECT Length('Bible') FROM dual; --Returns 5
SELECT Length('righteousness') FROM dual; --Returns 13
SELECT Length(NULL) FROM dual; --Returns NULL
See Also: LengthB, LengthC, Length2, Length4
