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MySQL | SUBSTRING method

schedule Aug 12, 2023
Last updated
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MySQL
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MySQL's SUBSTRING(~) method returns a substring from the input string starting at the specified position.

Syntax

SELECT SUBSTRING(str, pos);
SELECT SUBSTRING(str FROM pos);
SELECT SUBSTRING(str, pos, len);
SELECT SUBSTRING(str FROM pos FOR len);

Parameters

1. str | string

The string to return substring from.

2. pos | integer

The position that serves as the start of the substring. Negative values indicate positions from the end of the string.

3. len | integer

The length of the returned substring. A length < 0 returns an empty string.

Examples

Basic usage

To return the substring starting from position 4:

SELECT SUBSTRING('SkyTowner', 4);
+---------------------------+
| SUBSTRING('SkyTowner', 4) |
+---------------------------+
| Towner |
+---------------------------+

We return the substring starting from the 4th character of 'SkyTowner'.

Negative position

To return the substring starting from 4th position from end of string:

SELECT SUBSTRING('SkyTowner' FROM -4);
+--------------------------------+
| SUBSTRING('SkyTowner' FROM -4) |
+--------------------------------+
| wner |
+--------------------------------+

The substring that is returned starts from 'w' which is the 4th character from the end of 'SkyTowner'.

Length of substring

To return a substring that is 3 characters long starting from position 1:

SELECT SUBSTRING('SkyTowner', 1, 3);
+------------------------------+
| SUBSTRING('SkyTowner', 1, 3) |
+------------------------------+
| Sky |
+------------------------------+

Negative length

Negative length returns an empty string:

SELECT SUBSTRING('SkyTowner' FROM 4 FOR -2);
+--------------------------------------+
| SUBSTRING('SkyTowner' FROM 4 FOR -2) |
+--------------------------------------+
| |
+--------------------------------------+

Although it is hard to see, the returned value is an empty string.

robocat
Published by Arthur Yanagisawa
Edited by 0 others
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