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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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SPACE (Transact-SQL)

Returns a string of repeated spaces.

Topic link iconTransact-SQL Syntax Conventions

Copy 

SPACE (integer_expression )
integer_expression

Is a positive integer that indicates the number of spaces. If integer_expression is negative, a null string is returned.

For more information, see Expressions (Transact-SQL)

To include spaces in Unicode data, or to return more than 8000 character spaces, use REPLICATE instead of SPACE.

The following example trims the last names and concatenates a comma, two spaces, and the first names of people listed in the Contact table in AdventureWorks.

Copy 
USE AdventureWorks;
GO
SELECT RTRIM(LastName) + ',' + SPACE(2) +  LTRIM(FirstName)
FROM Person.Contact
ORDER BY LastName, FirstName;
GO
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