LENGTH function
LENGTH returns the length of a string.
The returned value is the number of the characters in a string.
The general format for this function is:
LENGTH(string)
SQL> SELECT LENGTH('this is a test') FROM dual;
LENGTH('THISISATEST')
---------------------
14
SQL>
The following query gets the length of the employee's name:
CREATE TABLE EMP (EMPNO NUMBER(4) NOT NULL,
ENAME VARCHAR2(10),
HIREDATE DATE);
INSERT INTO EMP VALUES (1, 'SMITH', TO_DATE('17-DEC-1980', 'DD-MON-YYYY'));
INSERT INTO EMP VALUES (2, 'ALLEN', TO_DATE('20-FEB-1981', 'DD-MON-YYYY'));
INSERT INTO EMP VALUES (3, 'WARD', TO_DATE('22-FEB-1981', 'DD-MON-YYYY'));
INSERT INTO EMP VALUES (4, 'JONES', TO_DATE('2-APR-1981', 'DD-MON-YYYY'));
INSERT INTO EMP VALUES (5, 'MARTIN',TO_DATE('28-SEP-1981', 'DD-MON-YYYY'));
SQL> select ename, length(ename) from emp;
ENAME LENGTH(ENAME)
---------- -------------
SMITH 5
ALLEN 5
WARD 4
JONES 5
MARTIN 6
SQL>