How to Use the MySQL SUBSTRING Function
In this tutorial, you'll learn how to use the MySQL SUBSTRING function.
SUBSTRING is a function to extract a substring from a given string.
MySQL SUBSTRING() Syntax
The syntax of the SUBSTRING function is as follows:
SUBSTRING(string FROM position FOR length);
or:
SUBSTRING(string, position, length);
Arguments
- string: Required. It is the string from which to extract a substring
- position: Required. The start position that you want to extract a substring.
- SUBSTRING extracts from the beginning of the text if position is a positive number.
- SUBSTRING extracts from the end of the string if the position is a negative number.
- length: Optional. Indicate the number of characters to extract. SUBSTRING returns the whole string, starting at the specified position if omitted.
Examples
Example 1: Omit both FROM and FOR keywords
The following statement extracts a substring (3 characters), starting at 11th position:
SELECT SUBSTRING("This site provides a lot of tutorials.", 11, 3);
Output:
pro
Example 2: Use both FROM and FOR
The following statement extracts a substring (8 characters), starting at 11th position:
SELECT SUBSTRING("This site provides a lot of tutorials." FROM 11 FOR 8);
Output:
provides
Example 3: Omit FOR keyword
The following statement extracts a substring, starting at 11th position:
SELECT SUBSTRING("This site provides a lot of tutorials." FROM 11);
Or you can omit the FROM keyword, as the following statement shows:
SELECT SUBSTRING("This site provides a lot of tutorials.", 11);
Output:
Both statements return the same value as follows:
provides a lot of tutorials.
Example 4: Extract a substring from the end of a string
The following statement extracts a substring from the end of the string, starting at 10th position:
SELECT SUBSTRING("This site provides a lot of tutorials.", FROM -10);
Or you can omit the FROM keyword, as the following example shows:
SELECT SUBSTRING("This site provides a lot of tutorials.", -10);
Output:
tutorials.
In this tutorial, you've learned how to use the MySQL SUBSTRING function.
SUBSTRING() extracts a sequence of characters from a given string starting at a specified position.