SQLite | SQLite Functions | Returning the Number of Characters in a String (length Function)
The length function returns the number of characters in a string. This article explains how to use the function.
Using the length Function
The length function obtains the length of a string. Its syntax is as follows.
length(string)
It returns the number of characters in the supplied string. For a BLOB value, it returns the number of bytes. You can pass either a string directly or a column name to return the number of characters in the value stored in that column.
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Let’s try an example. First, create the following table.
create table product (id integer, name_eng text, name_kor text);
sqlite> create table product (id integer, name_eng text, name_kor text);
sqlite>
Add the following data with INSERT statements.
insert into product values (1, 'Apple', '사과');
insert into product values (2, 'Car', '자동차');
insert into product values (3, 'Television', '텔레비전');
insert into product values (4, 'Mobile', '휴대');
sqlite> insert into product values (1, 'Apple', '사과');
sqlite> insert into product values (2, 'Car', '자동차');
sqlite> insert into product values (3, 'Television', '텔레비전');
sqlite> insert into product values (4, 'Mobile', '휴대');
sqlite>
Use length to retrieve the number of characters in the values stored in the name_eng and name_kor columns.
select name_eng, length(name_eng), name_kor, length(name_kor) from product;
sqlite> select name_eng, length(name_eng), name_kor, length(name_kor) from product;
name_eng length(name_eng) name_kor length(name_kor)
---------- ---------------- ---------- ----------------
Apple 5 사과 2
Car 3 자동차 3
Television 10 텔레비전 4
Mobile 6 휴대 2
sqlite>
The query returns the number of characters in each stored value.
You can also pass a string directly to length.
select length('Flower');
sqlite> select length('Flower');
length('Flower')
----------------
6
sqlite>