MySQL FIND_IN_SET() Function

The MySQL FIND_IN_SET() function returns the position of a string in a comma-delimited string list. In the special case it returns the following:

• If string is not found in string_list, the function returns 0.
• If string is NULL, the function returns NULL.
• If string_list is an empty string, the function returns 0.
• If string_list is NULL, the function returns NULL.

Syntax

FIND_IN_SET(string, string_list)

Parameters

Return Value

Returns the position of string in string_list.

Example 1:

The example below shows the usage of FIND_IN_SET() function.

mysql> SELECT FIND_IN_SET('b', 'a,b,c,d');
Result: 2

mysql> SELECT FIND_IN_SET('b', 'A,B,C,D');
Result: 2

mysql> SELECT FIND_IN_SET('B', 'a,b,c,d');
Result: 2

mysql> SELECT FIND_IN_SET(3, '1,2,3,4');
Result: 3

mysql> SELECT FIND_IN_SET('z', 'a,b,c,d');
Result: 0

mysql> SELECT FIND_IN_SET('a', '');
Result: 0

mysql> SELECT FIND_IN_SET('a', NULL);
Result: NULL

mysql> SELECT FIND_IN_SET(NULL, 'a,b,c,d');
Result: NULL

Example 2:

Consider a database table called Employee with the following records:

The statement given below can be used to find out the employee names of 'Finance' department.

SELECT *, IF(FIND_IN_SET('Finance', Departments), 'YES', 'NO') AS Result 
FROM Employee;

This will produce the result as shown below: