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LPAD function

Left-pads a string to a specified length with a specified padding string.

Syntax

LPAD(string, length [, pad_string])

Arguments

  • string: The string to pad.

  • length: The desired total length of the result string.

  • pad_string: Optional. The string to use for padding. Default is a single space ' '.

Returns

A VARCHAR of the specified length, with the original string right-aligned and padded on the left.

NULL Handling

  • If any argument is NULL, returns NULL.

Limits

  • length must be non-negative. Negative values will cause an error.

  • Binary/VARBINARY types are not supported.

Examples

-- Example 1: Pad with spaces (default)
> SELECT LPAD('abc', 10);
'       abc'

-- Example 2: Pad with asterisks
> SELECT LPAD('abc', 10, '*');
'*******abc'

-- Example 3: Pad with multi-character string
> SELECT LPAD('abc', 10, '-*=');
'-*=-*=-abc'

-- Example 4: UTF-8 support
> SELECT LPAD('¼¼¼a', 10, '智者');
'智者智者智者¼¼¼a'

-- Example 5: Using with expressions
> SELECT LPAD(LTRIM(' goog goog'), LENGTH(' goog goog'));
' goog goog'

-- Example 6: NULL handling
> SELECT LPAD(NULL, 10, 'ab');
NULL

> SELECT LPAD('ab', 10, NULL);
NULL

> SELECT LPAD('hello', NULL, 'ab');
NULL

-- Example 7: Negative length causes error
> SELECT LPAD('abc', -15);
ERROR

See Also