# Mariadb String Functions > Reference for MariaDB string functions: extraction, length, search, concatenation, modification, case, PCRE2 regex, formatting, and encoding, with common pitfalls and version notes. - Skill: `mariadb-corporation/mariadb-string-functions` (Agent Skill) - Install (CLI): `npx skillmds add mariadb-corporation/mariadb-string-functions` - Raw SKILL.md: https://api.skillmd.com/api/skills/mariadb-corporation/mariadb-string-functions/raw - Safety review: PASS (external: skill-scanner PASS, skillspector PASS) - Works with: Claude Code, Claude.ai, OpenAI Codex - Category: Data & Analytics, SQL & Databases - Tags: Database, Mariadb, Pcre2, Regex, Sql, String Functions - Author: mariadb-corporation (https://skillmd.com/u/mariadb-corporation) - Updated: 2026-08-22 - Page: https://skillmd.com/skills/mariadb-corporation/mariadb-string-functions --- # MariaDB String Functions *Last updated: 2026-06-24* Catalog of every built-in string function in MariaDB, with signature and a one-line semantic summary per entry. For a function not listed here, fall back to the canonical reference at (PCRE2 regex syntax: ). > **Default context:** Assume MariaDB **11.8 LTS** (GA May 2025) unless the user states another version. Functions with a `*(since X.Y)*` annotation are only available from that version onward; everything else is in every current LTS branch (10.6, 10.11, 11.4, 11.8). ## What LLMs Often Miss | If the agent writes / assumes… | …prefer the MariaDB form | |---|---| | `LENGTH(str)` to count characters | `LENGTH()` returns **bytes**, not characters. Under the default `utf8mb4`, a 5-emoji string returns 20, not 5. Use `CHAR_LENGTH()` / `CHARACTER_LENGTH()` for a character count; `OCTET_LENGTH()` / `LENGTHB()` are the explicit byte forms | | `CONCAT(a, b, c)` and expecting `NULL` arguments to be skipped | `CONCAT()` returns `NULL` if **any** argument is `NULL` — one `NULL` wipes the whole result. Use `CONCAT_WS(sep, …)` (skips `NULL`s), or wrap args in `IFNULL(x, '')` | | `SUBSTRING(str, 0, n)` to take from the start | String positions are **1-indexed**; `pos = 0` returns an **empty string**. Use `SUBSTRING(str, 1, n)`. A negative `pos` counts from the end (`SUBSTRING(str, -4)` → last 4 chars) | | `LOCATE(str, substr)` / `INSTR(substr, str)` — guessing the argument order | The two take **reversed** orders: `LOCATE(substr, str)` (needle first) but `INSTR(str, substr)` (haystack first). `POSITION(substr IN str)` is a synonym for `LOCATE`. All are 1-based, `0` if not found | | `str REGEXP '…'` expecting POSIX ERE semantics | MariaDB's `REGEXP`/`RLIKE` and the `REGEXP_*` functions use **PCRE2** — inline flags `(?i)`/`(?m)`, lazy quantifiers `.+?`, backreferences. Treat the dialect as PCRE, not classic POSIX ERE | | Case-sensitivity of `LIKE`, `REGEXP`, `=` is fixed | It depends on the operand **collation**. With the default `utf8mb4_uca1400_ai_ci` they are **case-insensitive**. Force case-sensitive matching with a `_bin`/`_cs` collation (`COLLATE utf8mb4_bin`), the `BINARY` operator, or a PCRE `(?-i)` flag. (`REPLACE()` is always case-sensitive regardless of collation) | | `REGEXP_REPLACE(…)` with `$1`-style replacement backreferences | Replacement backreferences use `\N` (`\\1`…`\\9` in a SQL string literal), not `$1`. Inline flags like `(?i)` go inside the **pattern** | | `TRIM(str)` to strip an arbitrary character | Bare `TRIM` removes **spaces** from both ends. Use `TRIM(LEADING | TRAILING | BOTH remstr FROM str)` for other characters or one side (`remstr` is a full string, not a char set). `LTRIM`/`RTRIM` are space-only | | `a || b` for string concatenation | By default `||` is **logical OR**, not concatenation — use `CONCAT()`. `||` concatenates only when `sql_mode` includes `PIPES_AS_CONCAT` (or `ORACLE`) | | `LPAD(str, len)` / `RPAD(str, len)` only lengthens | If `str` is **longer** than `len`, the result is **truncated** to `len`. `len` counts characters; the pad string defaults to a single space | | `'a' = 'a '` is false (trailing spaces significant) | `CHAR`/`VARCHAR` comparison **ignores trailing spaces** by default, so `'a' = 'a '` is true. Use the `BINARY` operator (or a `NO PAD` collation) to make trailing spaces and case significant | | `printf`-style `%s` formatting in SQL | Use `SFORMAT(fmt, …)` for Python/fmtlib-style `{}` placeholders *(since 10.7)*. Note it has no native temporal/decimal handling (`TIME`→string, `DECIMAL`→real) | ## Related operators Pattern-matching and comparison are **operators**, not functions, so they aren't in the catalog below: - **`LIKE` / `NOT LIKE`** — wildcard match (`%`, `_`) with an optional `ESCAPE` clause; collation-dependent case-sensitivity; index-usable when the pattern doesn't start with `%`/`_`. - **`REGEXP` / `RLIKE` / `NOT REGEXP`** — PCRE2 pattern match returning 1/0/`NULL`; session `default_regex_flags` sets default modifiers. - **`BINARY`** — forces a byte-wise (case- and trailing-space-sensitive) comparison; the canonical way to make a comparison case-sensitive. - **`SOUNDS LIKE`** — shorthand for `SOUNDEX(a) = SOUNDEX(b)`. To join multiple rows into one string, see `GROUP_CONCAT` in **`mariadb-aggregate-functions`**. ## Functions Auto-generated from the canonical `server/reference/sql-functions/string-functions/` pages by `agent-skills/extractor/extract_function_category.py`; regenerate when the doc tree changes. Do not hand-edit between the markers. ### ASCII `ASCII(str)` Returns the numeric ASCII value of the leftmost character of the string argument. ### BIN `BIN(N)` Returns a string representation of the binary value of the given longlong (that is, BIGINT) number. ### BIT_LENGTH `BIT_LENGTH(str)` Returns the length of the given string argument in bits. ### CAST `CAST(expr AS type)` The `CAST()` function takes a value of one data type and produces a value of another data type, similar to the CONVERT() function. ### CHAR `CHAR(N,... [USING charset_name])` `CHAR()` interprets each argument as an INT and returns a string consisting of the characters given by the code values of those integers. ### CHARACTER_LENGTH `CHARACTER_LENGTH(str)` `CHARACTER_LENGTH()` is a synonym for CHAR_LENGTH(). ### CHAR_LENGTH `CHAR_LENGTH(str)` Returns the length of the given string argument, measured in characters. ### CHR `CHR(N)` `CHR()` interprets each argument N as an integer and returns a VARCHAR(1) string consisting of the character given by the code values of the integer. ### CONCAT `CONCAT(str1,str2,...)` Returns the string that results from concatenating the arguments. ### CONCAT_WS `CONCAT_WS(separator,str1,str2,...)` `CONCAT_WS()` stands for Concatenate With Separator and is a special form of CONCAT(). ### CONVERT `CONVERT(expr,type), CONVERT(expr USING transcoding_name)` The `CONVERT()` and CAST() functions take a value of one type and produce a value of another type. ### ELT `ELT(N, str1[, str2, str3,...])` Takes a numeric argument and a series of string arguments. ### EXPORT_SET `EXPORT_SET(bits, on, off[, separator[, number_of_bits]])` Takes a minimum of three arguments. ### EXTRACTVALUE `EXTRACTVALUE(xml_frag, xpath_expr)` The `EXTRACTVALUE()` function takes two string arguments: a fragment of XML markup and an XPath expression, (also known as a locator). ### FIELD `FIELD(pattern, str1[,str2,...])` Returns the index position of the string or number matching the given pattern. ### FIND_IN_SET `FIND_IN_SET(pattern, strlist)` Returns the index position where the given pattern occurs in a string list. ### FORMAT `FORMAT(num, decimal_position[, locale])` Formats the given number for display as a string, adding separators to appropriate position and rounding the results to the given decimal position. ### FROM_BASE64 `FROM_BASE64(str)` Decodes the given base-64 encode string, returning the result as a binary string. ### HEX `HEX(N_or_S)` If `N_or_S` is a number, returns a string representation of the hexadecimal value of `N`, where `N` is a `longlong` (BIGINT) number. ### INSERT `INSERT(str,pos,len,newstr)` Returns the string `str`, with the substring beginning at position `pos` and `len` characters long replaced by the string `newstr`. ### INSTR `INSTR(str,substr)` Returns the position of the first occurrence of substring _substr_ in string _str_. ### LCASE `LCASE(str)` `LCASE()` is a synonym for LOWER(). ### LEFT `LEFT(str,len)` Returns the leftmost `len` characters from the string `str`, or `NULL` if any argument is `NULL`. ### LENGTH `LENGTH(str)` Returns the length of the string `str`. ### LENGTHB `LENGTHB(str)` `LENGTHB()` returns the length of the given string, in bytes. ### LIKE `expr LIKE pat [ESCAPE 'escape_char']` Tests whether _expr_ matches the pattern _pat_. ### LOAD_FILE `LOAD_FILE(file_name)` Reads the file and returns the file contents as a string. ### LOCATE `LOCATE(substr,str), LOCATE(substr,str,pos)` The first syntax returns the position of the first occurrence of substring `substr` in string `str`. ### LOWER `LOWER(str)` Returns the string `str` with all characters changed to lowercase according to the current character set mapping. ### LPAD `LPAD(str, len [,padstr])` Returns the string `str`, left-padded with the string `padstr` to a length of `len` characters. ### LTRIM `LTRIM(str)` Returns the string `str` with leading space characters removed. ### MAKE_SET `MAKE_SET(bits,str1,str2,...)` Returns a set value (a string containing substrings separated by "," characters) consisting of the strings that have the corresponding bit in bits set. ### MID `MID(str,pos,len)` MID(str,pos,len) is a synonym for SUBSTRING(str,pos,len)! ### NATURAL_SORT_KEY `NATURAL_SORT_KEY(str)` The `NATURAL_SORT_KEY` function is used for sorting that is closer to natural sorting. *(since 10.7)* ### OCTET_LENGTH `OCTET_LENGTH(str)` `OCTET_LENGTH()` returns the length of the given string, in octets (bytes). ### ORD `ORD(str)` If the leftmost character of the string `str` is a multi-byte character, returns the code for that character, calculated from the numeric values of its constituent bytes using this formula: ### POSITION `POSITION(substr IN str)` `POSITION(substr IN str)` is a synonym for LOCATE(substr,str). ### QUOTE `QUOTE(str)` Quotes a string to produce a result that can be used as a properly escaped data value in an SQL statement. ### REPEAT `REPEAT(str,count)` Returns a string consisting of the string `str` repeated `count` times. ### REPLACE `REPLACE(str,from_str,to_str)` Returns the string `str` with all occurrences of the string `from_str` replaced by the string `to_str`. ### REVERSE `REVERSE(str)` Returns the string `str` with the order of the characters reversed. ### RIGHT `RIGHT(str,len)` Returns the rightmost _`len`_ characters from the string _`str`_, or `NULL` if any argument is `NULL`. ### RPAD `RPAD(str, len [, padstr])` Returns the string `str`, right-padded with the string `padstr` to a length of `len` characters. ### RTRIM `RTRIM(str)` Returns the string `str` with trailing space characters removed. ### SOUNDEX `SOUNDEX(str)` Returns a soundex string from _`str`_. ### SPACE `SPACE(N)` Returns a string consisting of _`N`_ space characters. ### STRCMP `STRCMP(expr1,expr2)` `STRCMP()` returns `0` if the strings are the same, `-1` if the first argument is smaller than the second according to the current sort order, and `1` if the strings are otherwise not the same. ### SUBSTR Alias for `SUBSTRING`. ### SUBSTRING `SUBSTRING(str,pos),` The forms without a _`len`_ argument return a substring from string _`str`_ starting at position _`pos`_. ### SUBSTRING_INDEX `SUBSTRING_INDEX(str,delim,count)` Returns the substring from string _`str`_ before count occurrences of the delimiter _`delim`_. ### TO_BASE64 `TO_BASE64(str)` Converts the string argument `str` to its base-64 encoded form, returning the result as a character string in the connection character set and collation. ### TO_CHAR `TO_CHAR(expr[, fmt])` {% tabs %} {% tab title="Current" %} The `TO_CHAR` function converts an _expr_ of type date, datetime, time or timestamp to a string. ### TRIM `TRIM_ORACLE([{BOTH | LEADING | TRAILING} [remstr] FROM] str), TRIM([remstr FROM] str)` Returns the string `str` with all `remstr` prefixes or suffixes removed. ### UCASE `UCASE(str)` `UCASE()` is a synonym for UPPER(). ### UNHEX `UNHEX(str)` Performs the inverse operation of HEX(str). ### UPDATEXML `UpdateXML(xml_target, xpath_expr, new_xml)` This function replaces a single portion of a given fragment of XML markup`xml_target` with a new XML fragment `new_xml`, and then returns the changed XML. ### UPPER `UPPER(str)` Returns the string `str` with all characters changed to uppercase according to the current character set mapping. ### WEIGHT_STRING `WEIGHT_STRING(str [AS {CHAR|BINARY}(N)] [LEVEL levels] [flags])` Returns a binary string representing the string's sorting and comparison value. ## See Also - **`mariadb-features`** (topical) — the `latin1` → `utf8mb4` default-charset (since 11.6) and `uca1400_ai_ci` default-collation (since 11.5) changes that drive every case-sensitivity row - **`mysql-to-mariadb`** (topical) — the `||`-as-OR default and collation-alias behavior - **`mariadb-aggregate-functions`** — `GROUP_CONCAT` for joining rows into a string - Canonical reference on `mariadb.com/docs`: _This page is: Copyright © 2026 MariaDB. All rights reserved._