# CHAR_LENGTH¶

Calculates the number of characters in a string.

Note

• This function is supported on TEXT only.
• To get the length in bytes, see OCTET_LENGTH.
• For VARCHAR strings, the octet length is the number of characters. Use LEN instead.

## Syntax¶

CHAR_LEN( text_expr ) --> INT


## Arguments¶

Parameter Description
text_expr TEXT expression

## Returns¶

Returns an integer containing the number of characters in the string.

## Notes¶

• To get the length in bytes, see OCTET_LENGTH
• If the value is NULL, the result is NULL.

## Examples¶

For these examples, consider the following table and contents:

CREATE TABLE alphabets(line TEXT(50));

INSERT INTO alphabets VALUES
('abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz'), ('กขฃคฅฆงจฉชซฌญฎฏฐฑฒณดตถทธนบปผฝพฟภมยรฤลฦวศษสหฬอฮฯ')
, ('אבגדהוזחטיכלמנסעפצקרשת');


### Length in characters and bytes of strings¶

ASCII characters take up 1 byte per character, while Thai takes up 3 bytes and Hebrew takes up 2 bytes.

Unlike LEN, CHAR_LENGTH preserves the trailing whitespaces.

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