CHAR_LENGTH

Syntax

CHAR_LENGTH(str) CHARACTER_LENGTH(str)

Description

Returns the length of the given string argument, measured in characters. A multi-byte character counts as a single character. This means that for a string containing five two-byte characters, LENGTH() (or OCTET_LENGTH() in Oracle mode) returns 10, whereas CHAR_LENGTH() returns 5. If the argument is NULL, it returns NULL.

If the argument is not a string value, it is converted into a string.

It is synonymous with the CHARACTER_LENGTH() function.

Examples

SELECT CHAR_LENGTH('MariaDB'); +------------------------+ | CHAR_LENGTH('MariaDB') | +------------------------+ | 7 | +------------------------+

When Oracle mode is not set:

SELECT CHAR_LENGTH('π'), LENGTH('π'), LENGTHB('π'), OCTET_LENGTH('π'); +-------------------+--------------+---------------+--------------------+ | CHAR_LENGTH('π') | LENGTH('π') | LENGTHB('π') | OCTET_LENGTH('π') | +-------------------+--------------+---------------+--------------------+ | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | +-------------------+--------------+---------------+--------------------+

In Oracle mode:

SELECT CHAR_LENGTH('π'), LENGTH('π'), LENGTHB('π'), OCTET_LENGTH('π'); +-------------------+--------------+---------------+--------------------+ | CHAR_LENGTH('π') | LENGTH('π') | LENGTHB('π') | OCTET_LENGTH('π') | +-------------------+--------------+---------------+--------------------+ | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | +-------------------+--------------+---------------+--------------------+

See Also

• LENGTH()

• LENGTHB()

• OCTET_LENGTH()

• Oracle mode

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