Returns the length of the specified string as the number of bytes.
Syntax
OCTET_LENGTH(expression)
Argument
- expression
-
A
CHARstring, aVARCHARstring, aVARBYTEexpression, or an expression that implicitly evaluates to aCHAR,VARCHAR, orVARBYTEtype.
Return type
- INTEGER
-
The OCTET_LENGTH function returns an integer indicating the number of bytes in the input string.
If the input string is a character string, the LEN function returns the actual number of characters in multi-byte strings, not the number of bytes. For example, a
VARCHAR(12)column is required to store three four-byte Chinese characters. The OCTET_LENGTH function will return12for that string, and the LEN function will return3for that same string.
Usage notes
If expression is a CHAR string, the function returns the length of the CHAR string. For example, the output of a CHAR(6) input is a CHAR(6).
If expression is a VARCHAR string, trailing spaces are counted.
Examples
To return the number of bytes when the string francais with three trailing spaces is cast to a CHAR and a VARCHAR type, use the following example. For more information, see the CAST function.
SELECT OCTET_LENGTH(CAST('francais ' AS CHAR(15))) AS octet_length_char, OCTET_LENGTH(CAST('francais ' AS VARCHAR(15))) AS octet_length_varchar;
+-------------------+----------------------+
| octet_length_char | octet_length_varchar |
+-------------------+----------------------+
| 15 | 11 |
+-------------------+----------------------+To return the number of bytes and the number of characters in
the string français, use the following example.
SELECT OCTET_LENGTH('français'), LEN('français');
+--------------+-----+
| octet_length | len |
+--------------+-----+
| 9 | 8 |
+--------------+-----+To return the number of bytes when the string français is cast as a VARBYTE, use the following example.
SELECT OCTET_LENGTH(CAST('français' AS VARBYTE));
+--------------+
| octet_length |
+--------------+
| 9 |
+--------------+