Example
Extract a substring from a string (start at position 1, extract 3 characters):
SELECT SUBSTRING("SQL Tutorial", 1, 3) AS ExtractString;
Definition and Usage
The SUBSTRING() function extracts a substring from a string (starting at any position).
Note: The position of the first character in the string is 1.
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 |
| S | Q | L | T | u | t | o | r | i | a | l |
Note: The position of the last character in the string is -1.
| -12 | -11 | -10 | -9 | -8 | -7 | -6 | -5 | -4 | -3 | -2 | -1 |
| S | Q | L | T | u | t | o | r | i | a | l |
Note: The SUBSTR() and MID() functions equals to the SUBSTRING() function.
Syntax
SUBSTRING(string, start, length)
OR:
SUBSTRING(string FROM start FOR length)
Parameter Values
| Parameter | Description |
|---|---|
| string | Required. The string to extract from |
| start | Required. The start position. Can be both a positive or negative number. If it is a positive number, this function extracts from the beginning of the string. If it is a negative number, this function extracts from the end of the string. The position of the first character in the string is 1 and the position of the last character in the string is -1 |
| length | Optional. The number of characters to extract. If omitted, the whole string will be returned (from the start position) |
Technical Details
| Works in: | From MySQL 4.0 |
|---|
More Examples
Example
Extract a substring from the text in a column (start at position 2, extract 5 characters):
SELECT SUBSTRING(CustomerName, 2, 5) AS ExtractString
FROM Customers;
Example
Extract a substring from a string (start from the end, at position -5, extract 5 characters):
SELECT SUBSTRING("SQL Tutorial", -5, 5) AS ExtractString;