OCTET_LENGTH¶
Calculates the number of bytes in a string.
Note
This function is supported on
TEXTstrings only.To get the length in characters, see CHARACTER_LENGTH / CHAR_LENGTH.
Syntax¶
The following is the correct syntax for the OCTET_LENGTH function:
OCTET_LEN( text_expr ) --> INT
Arguments¶
The following table describes the OCTET_LENGTH arguments:
Parameter |
Description |
|---|---|
|
|
Returns¶
The OCTET_LENGTH function returns an integer containing the number of bytes in the string.
Notes¶
The following notes are applicable to the OCTET_LENGTH function:
To get the length in characters, see CHARACTER_LENGTH / CHAR_LENGTH
If the value is NULL, the result is NULL.
Length in Characters and Bytes of Strings¶
The Length in characters and bytes of strings example is based on the following table and contents:
CREATE TABLE alphabets(line TEXT);
INSERT INTO alphabets VALUES
('abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz'), ('กขฃคฅฆงจฉชซฌญฎฏฐฑฒณดตถทธนบปผฝพฟภมยรฤลฦวศษสหฬอฮฯ')
, ('אבגדהוזחטיכלמנסעפצקרשת');
ASCII characters take up 1 byte per character, while Thai takes up 3 bytes and Hebrew takes up 2 bytes, as shown below:
t=> SELECT LEN(line), CHAR_LENGTH(line), OCTET_LENGTH(line) FROM alphabets;
len | char_length | octet_length
----+-------------+-------------
26 | 26 | 26
47 | 47 | 141
22 | 22 | 44