SQL - SUBSTRING (Transact-SQL)

Syntax

SUBSTRING ( expression ,start , length )

Arguments

expression

Is a character, binary, text, ntext, or image expression.

start

Is an integer or bigint expression that specifies where the returned characters start. If start is less than 1, the returned expression will begin at the first character that is specified in expression. In this case, the number of characters that are returned is the largest value of either the sum of start + length- 1 or 0. If start is greater than the number of characters in the value expression, a zero-length expression is returned.

length

Is a positive integer or bigint expression that specifies how many characters of the expression will be returned. If length is negative, an error is generated and the statement is terminated. If the sum of start and length is greater than the number of characters in expression, the whole value expression beginning at start is returned



Sample:

SELECT date, substring(recpt_desc, 1, 3), branch from DATABASE 
where date='2014-12-03'
order by branch
group by date, substring(recpt_desc, 1, 3), branch;