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Transact-SQL Syntax Conventions (Transact-SQL)
Tutorial: Writing Transact-SQL Statements
+ (Add) (Transact-SQL)
+ (Unary Plus) (Transact-SQL)
+ (String Concatenation) (Transact-SQL)
+= (Add EQUALS) (Transact-SQL)
+= (String Concatenation) (Transact-SQL)
- (Negative) (Transact-SQL)
- (Subtract) (Transact-SQL)
-= (Subtract EQUALS) (Transact-SQL)
* (Multiply) (Transact-SQL)
*= (Multiply EQUALS) (Transact-SQL)
/ (Divide) (Transact-SQL)
/= (Divide EQUALS) (Transact-SQL)
\ (Backslash) (Transact-SQL)
% (Modulo) (Transact-SQL)
%= (Modulo EQUALS) (Transact-SQL)
% (Wildcard - Character(s) to Match) (Transact-SQL)
& (Bitwise AND) (Transact-SQL)
&= (Bitwise AND EQUALS) (Transact-SQL)
| (Bitwise OR) (Transact-SQL)
|= (Bitwise OR EQUALS) (Transact-SQL)
^ (Bitwise Exclusive OR) (Transact-SQL)
^= (Bitwise Exclusive OR EQUALS) (Transact-SQL)
~ (Bitwise NOT) (Transact-SQL)
= (Equals) (Transact-SQL)
> (Greater Than) (Transact-SQL)
< (Less Than) (Transact-SQL)
>= (Greater Than or Equal To) (Transact-SQL)
<= (Less Than or Equal To) (Transact-SQL)
<> (Not Equal To) (Transact-SQL)
!< (Not Less Than) (Transact-SQL)
!= (Not Equal To) (Transact-SQL)
!> (Not Greater Than) (Transact-SQL)
-- (Comment) (Transact-SQL)
/*...*/ (Comment) (Transact-SQL)
[ ] (Wildcard - Character(s) to Match) (Transact-SQL)
[^] (Wildcard - Character(s) Not to Match) (Transact-SQL)
_ (Wildcard - Match One Character) (Transact-SQL)
$PARTITION (Transact-SQL)
@@CONNECTIONS (Transact-SQL)
@@CPU_BUSY (Transact-SQL)
@@CURSOR_ROWS (Transact-SQL)
@@DATEFIRST (Transact-SQL)
@@DBTS (Transact-SQL)
@@ERROR (Transact-SQL)
@@FETCH_STATUS (Transact-SQL)
@@IDENTITY (Transact-SQL)
@@IDLE (Transact-SQL)
@@IO_BUSY (Transact-SQL)
@@LANGID (Transact-SQL)
@@LANGUAGE (Transact-SQL)
@@LOCK_TIMEOUT (Transact-SQL)
@@MAX_CONNECTIONS (Transact-SQL)
@@MAX_PRECISION (Transact-SQL)
@@NESTLEVEL (Transact-SQL)
@@OPTIONS (Transact-SQL)
@@PACK_RECEIVED (Transact-SQL)
@@PACK_SENT (Transact-SQL)
@@PACKET_ERRORS (Transact-SQL)
@@PROCID (Transact-SQL)
@@REMSERVER (Transact-SQL)
@@ROWCOUNT (Transact-SQL)
@@SERVERNAME (Transact-SQL)
@@SERVICENAME (Transact-SQL)
@@SPID (Transact-SQL)
@@TEXTSIZE (Transact-SQL)
@@TIMETICKS (Transact-SQL)
@@TOTAL_ERRORS (Transact-SQL)
@@TOTAL_READ (Transact-SQL)
@@TOTAL_WRITE (Transact-SQL)
@@TRANCOUNT (Transact-SQL)
@@VERSION (Transact-SQL)
ABS (Transact-SQL)
ACOS (Transact-SQL)
ADD SIGNATURE (Transact-SQL)
ALL (Transact-SQL)
ALTER Statements (Transact-SQL)
AND (Transact-SQL)
ANY (Transact-SQL)
APPLOCK_MODE (Transact-SQL)
APPLOCK_TEST (Transact-SQL)
APP_NAME (Transact-SQL)
ASCII (Transact-SQL)
ASIN (Transact-SQL)
ASSEMBLYPROPERTY (Transact-SQL)
ASYMKEY_ID (Transact-SQL)
ASYMKEYPROPERTY (Transact-SQL)
ATAN (Transact-SQL)
ATN2 (Transact-SQL)
AVG (Transact-SQL)
BACKUP (Transact-SQL)
BACKUP CERTIFICATE (Transact-SQL)
BACKUP MASTER KEY (Transact-SQL)
BACKUP SERVICE MASTER KEY (Transact-SQL)
BEGIN...END (Transact-SQL)
BEGIN CONVERSATION TIMER (Transact-SQL)
BEGIN DIALOG CONVERSATION (Transact-SQL)
BEGIN DISTRIBUTED TRANSACTION (Transact-SQL)
BEGIN TRANSACTION (Transact-SQL)
BETWEEN (Transact-SQL)
binary and varbinary (Transact-SQL)
BINARY_CHECKSUM (Transact-SQL)
bit (Transact-SQL)
BREAK (Transact-SQL)
BULK INSERT (Transact-SQL)
CASE (Transact-SQL)
CAST and CONVERT (Transact-SQL)
CATCH (TRY...CATCH) (Transact-SQL)
CEILING (Transact-SQL)
CERTPROPERTY (Transact-SQL)
Cert_ID (Transact-SQL)
Change Data Capture Functions (Transact-SQL)
Change Tracking Functions (Transact-SQL)
char and varchar (Transact-SQL)
CHAR (Transact-SQL)
CHARINDEX (Transact-SQL)
CHECKPOINT (Transact-SQL)
CHECKSUM (Transact-SQL)
CHECKSUM_AGG
CLOSE (Transact-SQL)
CLOSE MASTER KEY (Transact-SQL)
CLOSE SYMMETRIC KEY (Transact-SQL)
COALESCE (Transact-SQL)
COLLATE (Transact-SQL)
COLLATIONPROPERTY (Transact-SQL)
COL_LENGTH (Transact-SQL)
COL_NAME (Transact-SQL)
COLUMNPROPERTY (Transact-SQL)
COLUMNS_UPDATED (Transact-SQL)
COMMIT TRANSACTION (Transact-SQL)
COMMIT WORK (Transact-SQL)
Compound Operators (Transact-SQL)
COMPUTE (Transact-SQL)
CONNECTIONPROPERTY (Transact-SQL)
Constants (Transact-SQL)
CONTAINS (Transact-SQL)
CONTAINSTABLE (Transact-SQL)
CONTINUE (Transact-SQL)
CONTEXT_INFO (Transact-SQL)
Control-of-Flow Language (Transact-SQL)
CONVERT (Transact-SQL)
COS (Transact-SQL)
COT (Transact-SQL)
COUNT (Transact-SQL)
COUNT_BIG (Transact-SQL)
CREATE Statements (Transact-SQL)
CRYPT_GEN_RANDOM (Transact-SQL)
CURRENT_REQUEST_ID (Transact-SQL)
CURRENT_TIMESTAMP (Transact-SQL)
CURRENT_USER (Transact-SQL)
cursor (Transact-SQL)
CURSOR_STATUS (Transact-SQL)
Cursors (Transact-SQL)
Data Collector Functions (Transact-SQL)
Data Types (Transact-SQL)
DATABASE_PRINCIPAL_ID (Transact-SQL)
DATABASEPROPERTY (Transact-SQL)
DATABASEPROPERTYEX (Transact-SQL)
DATALENGTH (Transact-SQL)
date (Transact-SQL)
DATEADD (Transact-SQL)
DATEDIFF (Transact-SQL)
DATENAME (Transact-SQL)
DATEPART (Transact-SQL)
datetime (Transact-SQL)
datetime2 (Transact-SQL)
datetimeoffset (Transact-SQL)
DAY (Transact-SQL)
DB_ID (Transact-SQL)
DB_NAME (Transact-SQL)
DBCC (Transact-SQL)
DEALLOCATE (Transact-SQL)
decimal and numeric (Transact-SQL)
DECLARE @local_variable (Transact-SQL)
DECLARE CURSOR (Transact-SQL)
DECRYPTBYASYMKEY (Transact-SQL)
DECRYPTBYCERT (Transact-SQL)
DECRYPTBYKEY (Transact-SQL)
DECRYPTBYKEYAUTOASYMKEY (Transact-SQL)
DECRYPTBYKEYAUTOCERT (Transact-SQL)
DECRYPTBYPASSPHRASE (Transact-SQL)
DEGREES (Transact-SQL)
DELETE (Transact-SQL)
DENSE_RANK (Transact-SQL)
DENY (Transact-SQL)
DIFFERENCE (Transact-SQL)
DISABLE TRIGGER (Transact-SQL)
DROP Statements (Transact-SQL)
ELSE (IF...ELSE) (Transact-SQL)
ENABLE TRIGGER (Transact-SQL)
ENCRYPTBYASYMKEY (Transact-SQL)
ENCRYPTBYCERT (Transact-SQL)
ENCRYPTBYKEY (Transact-SQL)
ENCRYPTBYPASSPHRASE (Transact-SQL)
END (BEGIN...END) (Transact-SQL)
END CONVERSATION (Transact-SQL)
ERROR_LINE (Transact-SQL)
ERROR_MESSAGE (Transact-SQL)
ERROR_NUMBER (Transact-SQL)
ERROR_PROCEDURE (Transact-SQL)
ERROR_SEVERITY (Transact-SQL)
ERROR_STATE (Transact-SQL)
EVENTDATA (Transact-SQL)
EXCEPT and INTERSECT (Transact-SQL)
EXECUTE AS (Transact-SQL)
EXECUTE AS Clause (Transact-SQL)
EXECUTE
EXISTS (Transact-SQL)
EXP (Transact-SQL)
Expressions (Transact-SQL)
FETCH (Transact-SQL)
FILE_ID (Transact-SQL)
FILE_IDEX (Transact-SQL)
FILE_NAME (Transact-SQL)
FILEGROUP_ID (Transact-SQL)
FILEGROUP_NAME (Transact-SQL)
FILEGROUPPROPERTY (Transact-SQL)
FILEPROPERTY (Transact-SQL)
float and real (Transact-SQL)
FLOOR (Transact-SQL)
sys.fn_check_object_signatures (Transact-SQL)
fn_get_audit_file (Transact-SQL)
fn_get_sql (Transact-SQL)
fn_helpcollations (Transact-SQL)
fn_listextendedproperty (Transact-SQL)
sys.fn_xe_file_target_read_file (Transact-SQL)
fn_my_permissions (Transact-SQL)
fn_servershareddrives (Transact-SQL)
fn_trace_geteventinfo (Transact-SQL)
fn_trace_getfilterinfo (Transact-SQL)
fn_trace_getinfo (Transact-SQL)
fn_trace_gettable (Transact-SQL)
fn_virtualfilestats (Transact-SQL)
fn_virtualservernodes (Transact-SQL)
FOR Clause (Transact-SQL)
FORMATMESSAGE (Transact-SQL)
FREETEXT (Transact-SQL)
FREETEXTTABLE (Transact-SQL)
FROM (Transact-SQL)
FULLTEXTCATALOGPROPERTY (Transact-SQL)
FULLTEXTSERVICEPROPERTY (Transact-SQL)
Functions (Transact-SQL)
geography (Transact-SQL)
geometry (Transact-SQL)
GET CONVERSATION GROUP (Transact-SQL)
GET_FILESTREAM_TRANSACTION_CONTEXT (Transact-SQL)
GET_TRANSMISSION_STATUS (Transact-SQL)
GETANSINULL (Transact-SQL)
GETDATE (Transact-SQL)
GETUTCDATE (Transact-SQL)
GO (Transact-SQL)
GOTO (Transact-SQL)
GRANT (Transact-SQL)
GROUP BY (Transact-SQL)
GROUPING (Transact-SQL)
GROUPING_ID (Transact-SQL)
HAS_DBACCESS (Transact-SQL)
HAS_PERMS_BY_NAME (Transact-SQL)
HASHBYTES (Transact-SQL)
HAVING (Transact-SQL)
hierarchyid (Transact-SQL)
Hints (Transact-SQL)
HOST_ID (Transact-SQL)
HOST_NAME (Transact-SQL)
IDENT_CURRENT (Transact-SQL)
IDENT_INCR (Transact-SQL)
IDENT_SEED (Transact-SQL)
IDENTITY (Function) (Transact-SQL)
IDENTITY (Property) (Transact-SQL)
IF...ELSE (Transact-SQL)
image (Transact-SQL)
IN (Transact-SQL)
INDEXKEY_PROPERTY (Transact-SQL)
INDEXPROPERTY (Transact-SQL)
INDEX_COL (Transact-SQL)
INSERT (Transact-SQL)
int, bigint, smallint, and tinyint (Transact-SQL)
INTO Clause (Transact-SQL)
IS_MEMBER (Transact-SQL)
IS_OBJECTSIGNED (Transact-SQL)
IS_SRVROLEMEMBER (Transact-SQL)
ISDATE (Transact-SQL)
IS [NOT] NULL (Transact-SQL)
ISNULL (Transact-SQL)
ISNUMERIC (Transact-SQL)
Key_GUID (Transact-SQL)
Key_ID (Transact-SQL)
KEY_NAME (Transact-SQL)
KILL (Transact-SQL)
KILL QUERY NOTIFICATION SUBSCRIPTION (Transact-SQL)
KILL STATS JOB (Transact-SQL)
LEFT (Transact-SQL)
LEN (Transact-SQL)
LIKE (Transact-SQL)
LOG (Transact-SQL)
LOG10 (Transact-SQL)
LOGINPROPERTY (Transact-SQL)
LOWER (Transact-SQL)
LTRIM (Transact-SQL)
MAX (Transact-SQL)
MERGE (Transact-SQL)
MIN (Transact-SQL)
MIN_ACTIVE_ROWVERSION (Transact-SQL)
money and smallmoney (Transact-SQL)
MONTH (Transact-SQL)
MOVE CONVERSATION (Transact-SQL)
NCHAR (Transact-SQL)
nchar and nvarchar (Transact-SQL)
NEWID (Transact-SQL)
NEWSEQUENTIALID() (Transact-SQL)
NOT (Transact-SQL)
ntext, text, and image (Transact-SQL)
NTILE (Transact-SQL)
NULLIF (Transact-SQL)
numeric (Transact-SQL)
OBJECT_DEFINITION (Transact-SQL)
OBJECT_ID (Transact-SQL)
OBJECT_NAME (Transact-SQL)
OBJECT_SCHEMA_NAME (Transact-SQL)
OBJECTPROPERTY (Transact-SQL)
OBJECTPROPERTYEX (Transact-SQL)
ODBC Scalar Functions (Transact-SQL)
OPEN (Transact-SQL)
OPEN MASTER KEY (Transact-SQL)
OPEN SYMMETRIC KEY (Transact-SQL)
OPENDATASOURCE (Transact-SQL)
OPENQUERY (Transact-SQL)
OPENROWSET (Transact-SQL)
OPENXML (Transact-SQL)
Operators (Transact-SQL)
OPTION Clause (Transact-SQL)
OR (Transact-SQL)
ORDER BY Clause (Transact-SQL)
ORIGINAL_DB_NAME (Transact-SQL)
ORIGINAL_LOGIN (Transact-SQL)
OUTPUT Clause (Transact-SQL)
OVER Clause (Transact-SQL)
PARSENAME (Transact-SQL)
PathName (Transact-SQL)
PATINDEX (Transact-SQL)
PERMISSIONS (Transact-SQL)
PI (Transact-SQL)
POWER (Transact-SQL)
Predicate (Transact-SQL)
PRINT (Transact-SQL)
PUBLISHINGSERVERNAME (Transact-SQL)
PWDCOMPARE (Transact-SQL)
PWDENCRYPT (Transact-SQL)
QUOTENAME (Transact-SQL)
RADIANS (Transact-SQL)
RAISERROR
RAND (Transact-SQL)
RANK (Transact-SQL)
READTEXT (Transact-SQL)
real (Transact-SQL)
RECEIVE (Transact-SQL)
RECONFIGURE (Transact-SQL)
REPLACE (Transact-SQL)
REPLICATE (Transact-SQL)
Reserved Keywords (Transact-SQL)
RESTORE Statements for Restoring, Recovering, and Managing Backups (Transact-SQL)
RESTORE MASTER KEY (Transact-SQL)
RESTORE SERVICE MASTER KEY (Transact-SQL)
RETURN (Transact-SQL)
REVERSE (Transact-SQL)
REVERT (Transact-SQL)
REVOKE (Transact-SQL)
RIGHT (Transact-SQL)
ROLLBACK TRANSACTION (Transact-SQL)
ROLLBACK WORK (Transact-SQL)
ROUND (Transact-SQL)
ROW_NUMBER (Transact-SQL)
ROWCOUNT_BIG (Transact-SQL)
rowversion (Transact-SQL)
RTRIM (Transact-SQL)
SAVE TRANSACTION (Transact-SQL)
SCHEMA_ID (Transact-SQL)
SCHEMA_NAME (Transact-SQL)
SCOPE_IDENTITY (Transact-SQL)
Search Condition (Transact-SQL)
SELECT @local_variable (Transact-SQL)
SELECT (Transact-SQL)
SEND (Transact-SQL)
SERVERPROPERTY (Transact-SQL)
SESSION_USER (Transact-SQL)
SESSIONPROPERTY (Transact-SQL)
SET @local_variable (Transact-SQL)
SET (Transact-SQL)
SETUSER (Transact-SQL)
SHUTDOWN (Transact-SQL)
SIGN (Transact-SQL)
SignByAsymKey (Transact-SQL)
SignByCert (Transact-SQL)
SIN (Transact-SQL)
smalldatetime (Transact-SQL)
smallint (Transact-SQL)
smallmoney (Transact-SQL)
SOME | ANY (Transact-SQL)
SOUNDEX (Transact-SQL)
SPACE (Transact-SQL)
sql_variant (Transact-SQL)
SQL_VARIANT_PROPERTY (Transact-SQL)
SQRT (Transact-SQL)
SQUARE (Transact-SQL)
STATS_DATE (Transact-SQL)
STDEV (Transact-SQL)
STDEVP (Transact-SQL)
STR (Transact-SQL)
STUFF (Transact-SQL)
SUBSTRING (Transact-SQL)
SUM (Transact-SQL)
SUSER_ID (Transact-SQL)
SUSER_NAME (Transact-SQL)
SUSER_SID (Transact-SQL)
SUSER_SNAME (Transact-SQL)
SWITCHOFFSET (Transact-SQL)
SYSDATETIME (Transact-SQL)
SYSDATETIMEOFFSET (Transact-SQL)
SYMKEYPROPERTY (Transact-SQL)
System Stored Procedures (Transact-SQL)
System Tables (Transact-SQL)
System Views (Transact-SQL)
SYSUTCDATETIME (Transact-SQL)
sys.fn_builtin_permissions (Transact-SQL)
sys.fn_translate_permissions (Transact-SQL)
sys.fn_validate_plan_guide (Transact-SQL)
sys.login_token (Transact-SQL)
sys.user_token (Transact-SQL)
SYSTEM_USER (Transact-SQL)
table (Transact-SQL)
Table Value Constructor (Transact-SQL)
TAN (Transact-SQL)
TERTIARY_WEIGHTS (Transact-SQL)
text (Transact-SQL)
TEXTPTR (Transact-SQL)
TEXTVALID (Transact-SQL)
time (Transact-SQL)
tinyint (Transact-SQL)
TODATETIMEOFFSET (Transact-SQL)
TOP (Transact-SQL)
Trace Flags (Transact-SQL)
Transactions (Transact-SQL)
TRY...CATCH (Transact-SQL)
TRIGGER_NESTLEVEL (Transact-SQL)
TRUNCATE TABLE (Transact-SQL)
TYPE_ID (Transact-SQL)
TYPE_NAME (Transact-SQL)
TYPEPROPERTY (Transact-SQL)
UNICODE (Transact-SQL)
UNION (Transact-SQL)
uniqueidentifier (Transact-SQL)
UPDATE (Transact-SQL)
UPDATE() (Transact-SQL)
UPDATE STATISTICS (Transact-SQL)
UPDATETEXT (Transact-SQL)
UPPER (Transact-SQL)
USE (Transact-SQL)
USER (Transact-SQL)
USER_ID (Transact-SQL)
USER_NAME (Transact-SQL)
VAR (Transact-SQL)
varbinary (Transact-SQL)
varchar (Transact-SQL)
VARP (Transact-SQL)
VerifySignedByCert (Transact-SQL)
VerifySignedByAsymKey (Transact-SQL)
WAITFOR (Transact-SQL)
WHERE (Transact-SQL)
WHILE (Transact-SQL)
WITH common_table_expression (Transact-SQL)
WITH XMLNAMESPACES (Transact-SQL)
WRITETEXT (Transact-SQL)
XACT_STATE (Transact-SQL)
xml (Transact-SQL)
xml_schema_namespace (Transact-SQL)
YEAR (Transact-SQL)
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LEN (Transact-SQL)

Returns the number of characters of the specified string expression, excluding trailing blanks.

NoteNote

To return the number of bytes used to represent an expression, use the DATALENGTH function.

Topic link iconTransact-SQL Syntax Conventions

Copy 

LEN (string_expression )
string_expression

Is the string expression to be evaluated. string_expression can be a constant, variable, or column of either character or binary data.

bigint if expression is of the varchar(max), nvarchar(max) or varbinary(max) data types; otherwise, int.

The following example selects the number of characters and the data in FirstName for people located in Australia.

Copy 
USE AdventureWorks;
GO
SELECT LEN(FirstName) AS Length, FirstName, LastName 
FROM Sales.vIndividualCustomer
WHERE CountryRegionName = 'Australia';
GO
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