Tutorials References Exercises Videos Menu
Free Website Get Certified Pro

SQL Tutorial

SQL HOME SQL Intro SQL Syntax SQL Select SQL Select Distinct SQL Where SQL And, Or, Not SQL Order By SQL Insert Into SQL Null Values SQL Update SQL Delete SQL Select Top SQL Min and Max SQL Count, Avg, Sum SQL Like SQL Wildcards SQL In SQL Between SQL Aliases SQL Joins SQL Inner Join SQL Left Join SQL Right Join SQL Full Join SQL Self Join SQL Union SQL Group By SQL Having SQL Exists SQL Any, All SQL Select Into SQL Insert Into Select SQL Case SQL Null Functions SQL Stored Procedures SQL Comments SQL Operators

SQL Database

SQL Create DB SQL Drop DB SQL Backup DB SQL Create Table SQL Drop Table SQL Alter Table SQL Constraints SQL Not Null SQL Unique SQL Primary Key SQL Foreign Key SQL Check SQL Default SQL Index SQL Auto Increment SQL Dates SQL Views SQL Injection SQL Hosting SQL Data Types

SQL References

SQL Keywords MySQL Functions SQL Server Functions MS Access Functions SQL Quick Ref

SQL Examples

SQL Examples SQL Quiz SQL Exercises SQL Certificate

SQL Server LEN() Function

Example

Return the length of a string:

SELECT LEN('W3Schools.com');
Try it Yourself »

Definition and Usage

The LEN() function returns the length of a string.

Note: Trailing spaces at the end of the string is not included when calculating the length. However, leading spaces at the start of the string is included when calculating the length.

Tip: Also look at the DATALENGTH() function.

Syntax

LEN(string)

Parameter Values

Parameter Description
string Required. The string to return the length for. If string is NULL, it returns NULL

Technical Details

Works in: SQL Server (starting with 2008), Azure SQL Database, Azure SQL Data Warehouse, Parallel Data Warehouse

More Examples

Example

Return the length of a string (counts leading spaces, but not trailing spaces):

SELECT LEN(' W3Schools.com ');
Try it Yourself »

Example

Return the length of a string:

SELECT LEN('2017-08');
Try it Yourself »