SQL Server LEN() Function

The SQL Server (Transact-SQL) LEN() function returns the number of characters of the specified string expression, excluding trailing spaces.

Note: To return the number of bytes used to represent the string expression, DATALENGTH() function can be used. It includes trailing spaces in the length calculation.

Syntax

LEN(string)

Parameters

Return Value

Returns the number of characters of the specified string.

Example 1:

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

SELECT LEN('12345');
Result: 5

SELECT LEN('ABCDE');
Result: 5

SELECT LEN(12345);
Result: 5

SELECT LEN('AlphaCodingSkills');
Result: 17

SELECT LEN('Alpha Coding Skills');
Result: 19

SELECT LEN(NULL);
Result: NULL

SELECT LEN('');
Result: 0

SELECT LEN(' ');
Result: 0

Example 2:

Consider a database table called Employee with the following records:

The statement given below can be used to get the length of records of City column.

SELECT *, LEN(City) AS LEN_Value FROM Employee;

The query will produce the following result: