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CHAR_LENGTH(), CHARACTER_LENGTH()

Available in: DSQL, PSQL

Added in: 2.0

Changed in: 2.1

Description

Gives the length in characters of the input string.

Note: With arguments of type CHAR, this function returns the formal string length (i.e. the declared length of a field or variable). If you want to obtain the "logical" length, not counting the trailing spaces, right-TRIM the argument before passing it to CHAR[ACTER]_LENGTH.

Result type: INTEGER

Syntax

 CHAR_LENGTH (str)
 CHARACTER_LENGTH (str)

BLOB support: Since Firebird 2.1, this function fully supports text BLOBs of any length and character set.

Examples

 select char_length('Hello!') from rdb$database
   -- returns 6

 select char_length(_iso8859_1 'Grüß di!') from rdb$database
   -- returns 8

 select char_length
   (cast (_iso8859_1 'Grüß di!' as varchar(24) character set utf8))
 from rdb$database
   -- returns 8; the fact that ü and ß take up two bytes each is irrelevant

 select char_length
   (cast (_iso8859_1 'Grüß di!' as char(24) character set utf8))
 from rdb$database
   -- returns 24: all 24 CHAR positions count

See also:
BIT_LENGTH()
OCTET_LENGTH()
Firebird Null Guide: Internal functions and directives

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