OCTET_LENGTH

Calculates the number of bytes in a string.

Note

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

text_expr

TEXT expression

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 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(50));

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