THE WORLD'S LARGEST WEB DEVELOPER SITE

SQL Tutorial

SQL HOME SQL Intro SQL Syntax SQL Select SQL Select Distinct SQL Where SQL And, Or, Not SQL Order By SQL Insert Into SQL Null Values SQL Update SQL Delete SQL Select Top SQL Min and Max SQL Count, Avg, Sum SQL Like SQL Wildcards SQL In SQL Between SQL Aliases SQL Joins SQL Inner Join SQL Left Join SQL Right Join SQL Full Join SQL Self Join SQL Union SQL Group By SQL Having SQL Exists SQL Any, All SQL Select Into SQL Insert Into Select SQL Case SQL Null Functions SQL Stored Procedures SQL Comments

SQL Database

SQL Create DB SQL Drop DB SQL Backup DB SQL Create Table SQL Drop Table SQL Alter Table SQL Constraints SQL Not Null SQL Unique SQL Primary Key SQL Foreign Key SQL Check SQL Default SQL Index SQL Auto Increment SQL Dates SQL Views SQL Injection SQL Hosting

SQL References

SQL Keywords MySQL Functions SQL Server Functions MS Access Functions SQL Operators SQL Data Types SQL Quick Ref

SQL Examples

SQL Examples SQL Quiz SQL Exercises SQL Certificate

MySQL SUBSTR() Function

❮ MySQL Functions

Example

Extract a substring from a string (start at position 5, extract 3 characters):

SELECT SUBSTR("SQL Tutorial", 5, 3) AS ExtractString;
Try it Yourself »

Definition and Usage

The SUBSTR() function extracts a substring from a string (starting at any position).

Note: The SUBSTR() and MID() functions equals to the SUBSTRING() function.

Syntax

SUBSTR(string, start, length)

OR:

SUBSTR(string FROM start FOR length)

Parameter Values

Parameter Description
string Required. The string to extract from
start Required. The start position. Can be both a positive or negative number. If it is a positive number, this function extracts from the beginning of the string. If it is a negative number, this function extracts from the end of the string
length Optional. The number of characters to extract. If omitted, the whole string will be returned (from the start position)

Technical Details

Works in: From MySQL 4.0

More Examples

Example

Extract a substring from the text in a column (start at position 2, extract 5 characters):

SELECT SUBSTR(CustomerName, 2, 5) AS ExtractString
FROM Customers;
Try it Yourself »

Example

Extract a substring from a string (start from the end, at position -5, extract 5 characters):

SELECT SUBSTR("SQL Tutorial", -5, 5) AS ExtractString;
Try it Yourself »

❮ MySQL Functions