SQL Server CHAR() Function

The SQL Server (Transact-SQL) CHAR() function returns the single-byte character with the specified integer_code, as defined by the character set and encoding of the default collation of the current database.

The range of integer_code is from 0 through 255. The function returns a NULL value for integer_code outside this range or not representing a complete character. The function also returns a NULL value when the character exceeds the length of the return type. Many common character sets share ASCII as a sub-set and will return the same character for integer values in the range 0 through 127.

Syntax

CHAR(integer_code)

Parameters

Return Value

Returns the single-byte character given by the code value of the specified integer_code.

Example 1:

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

SELECT CHAR(72);
Result: 'H'

SELECT CHAR(69);
Result: 'E'

SELECT CHAR(NULL);
Result: NULL

SELECT CHAR('73');
Result: 'I'

Example 2:

Consider a database table called Sample with the following records:

The statement given below can be used to get the string containing characters given by the code values specified by columns x1, x2 and x3.

SELECT *, CHAR(x1) + CHAR(x2) + CHAR(x3) AS CHAR_String FROM Sample;

The query will produce the following result: