SQL/MX 2.x Reference Manual (H06.04+)

SQL/MX Functions and Expressions

HP NonStop SQL/MX Reference Manual—540440-003

9-101

OCTET_LENGTH Function

The OCTET_LENGTH function returns the length of a character string in bytes.

string-value-expression

specifies the string value expression for which to return the length in bytes.

NonStop SQL/MX returns the result as a 2-byte signed integer with a scale of zero.

If string-value-expression is null, NonStop SQL/MX returns a length of zero.

See Character Value Expressions on page 6-37.

Considerations for OCTET_LENGTH

CHAR and VARCHAR Operands

For a column declared as fixed CHAR, NonStop SQL/MX returns the length of that

column as the maximum number of storage bytes. For a VARCHAR column,

NonStop SQL/MX returns the length of the string stored in that column as the actual

number of storage bytes.

Similarity to CHAR_LENGTH Function

The OCTET_LENGTH and CHAR_LENGTH functions are similar. The

OCTET_LENGTH function returns the number of bytes, rather than the number of

characters, in the string. This distinction is important for multibyte implementations. For

an example of selecting a double-byte column, see Similarity to OCTET_LENGTH

Function on page 9-24.

Examples of OCTET_LENGTH

•

If a character string is stored as two bytes for each character, this function returns

the value 12. Otherwise, the function returns 6:

OCTET_LENGTH ('Robert')

OCTET_LENGTH (string-value-expression)