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SELECT * FROM table ORDER BY string_length(column);

Is there a MySQL function to do this (of course instead of string_length)?

felixmosh
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Gal
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7 Answers7

570

You are looking for CHAR_LENGTH() to get the number of characters in a string.

For multi-byte charsets LENGTH() will give you the number of bytes the string occupies, while CHAR_LENGTH() will return the number of characters.

Larzan
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hsz
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    Actually, CHAR_LENGTH() should be a better choice. For multi-byte charsets LENGTH() will give you the number of bytes the string occupies, while CHAR_LENGTH() will return the number of characters. – András Szepesházi Nov 01 '11 at 14:59
  • It is correct to send an integer parameter to `CHAR_LENGTH`, since if I return the number of characters ? , por ejemplo `CHAR_LENGTH(12)` return `2` – DarkFenix May 06 '17 at 01:28
  • @fubo in mySQL 8.0 ```select LENGTH('Ö');``` result is ```1```. same with ```CHAR_LENGTH()```, ```OCTET_LENGTH()``` – Sathvik Jun 25 '21 at 08:48
98
SELECT * FROM table 
ORDER BY LENGTH(column);

Documentation on the LENGTH() function, as well as all the other string functions, is available here.

Avatar
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Kaleb Brasee
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32

Having a look at MySQL documentation for the string functions, we can also use CHAR_LENGTH() and CHARACTER_LENGTH() as well.

NeverHopeless
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16

In my case I get data using mobile number length greater than 10 digits using the below query

SELECT * FROM table_name WHERE CHAR_LENGTH(mobile) > 10;
Ganesan J
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5

The function that I use to find the length of the string is length, used as follows:

SELECT * FROM table ORDER BY length(column);
Flygenring
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Rito
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4

I used this sentences to filter 

SELECT table.field1, table.field2 FROM table WHERE length(field) > 10;

you can change 10 for other number that you want to filter.

Jesús Sánchez
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-2
select * from *tablename* where 1 having length(*fieldname*)=*fieldlength*

Example if you want to select from customer the entry's with a name shorter then 2 chars.

select * from customer where 1 **having length(name)<2**
Faisal
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Levi Maier
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