MySQL CHAR_LENGTH() Function

The CHAR_LENGTH() function returns the number of characters in its argument.

You can also use the CHARACTER_LENGTH() function, as it does the same thing.

Here's an example of using both functions:

SELECT 

title, 

   CHAR_LENGTH(title),

   CHARACTER_LENGTH(title)

FROM film;

Result:

In the above example, we select the title field from the film table. We then return the number of characters the value contains, first by using CHAR_LENGTH(title), then by using CHAR_LENGTH(title).

Usage Example

You can use conditional statements to return different results depending on the length of the string. For example, you could do this:

SELECT 

title Title_1, 

   CHAR_LENGTH(title) Length,   

IF(CHAR_LENGTH(title) > 15,

CONCAT(LEFT(title,15), '...'), title) Title_2

FROM sakila.film;

Result:

This time we use CHAR_LENGTH() to check the length of the title. If the title is more than a certain number of characters, we add an ellipsis to the title.

CHAR_LENGTH() vs LENGTH()

It's important not to get confused between the CHAR_LENGTH() and LENGTH() functions.

Also, don't forget that CHARACTER_LENGTH() is a synonym of CHAR_LENGTH(). And while we're talking about synonyms, OCTET_LENGTH() is a synonym for LENGTH().

So, just to be clear…

CHAR_LENGTH()

CHARACTER_LENGTH()

Returns the number of characters in its argument.

LENGTH()

OCTET_LENGTH()

Returns the length of a string in bytes (not the number of characters).

The examples on this page use the Sakila sample database.