CHAR(N,... [USING charset_name])

MySQL 8.4

Syntax

MYSQL

SELECT CHAR(77,121,83,81,'76');
+--------------------------------------------------+
| CHAR(77,121,83,81,'76')                          |
+--------------------------------------------------+
| 0x4D7953514C                                     |
+--------------------------------------------------+
1 row in set (0.00 sec)

SELECT CHAR(77,77.3,'77.3');
+--------------------------------------------+
| CHAR(77,77.3,'77.3')                       |
+--------------------------------------------+
| 0x4D4D4D                                   |
+--------------------------------------------+
1 row in set (0.00 sec)

Examples

Example

CHAR() interprets each argument N as an integer and returns a string consisting of the characters given by the code values of those integers. NULL values are skipped.

MYSQL

SELECT CHAR(77,121,83,81,'76');
+--------------------------------------------------+
| CHAR(77,121,83,81,'76')                          |
+--------------------------------------------------+
| 0x4D7953514C                                     |
+--------------------------------------------------+
1 row in set (0.00 sec)

SELECT CHAR(77,77.3,'77.3');
+--------------------------------------------+
| CHAR(77,77.3,'77.3')                       |
+--------------------------------------------+
| 0x4D4D4D                                   |
+--------------------------------------------+
1 row in set (0.00 sec)

Example 2

By default, CHAR() returns a binary string. To produce a string in a given character set, use the optional USING clause:

MYSQL

SELECT CHAR(77,121,83,81,'76' USING utf8mb4);
+---------------------------------------+
| CHAR(77,121,83,81,'76' USING utf8mb4) |
+---------------------------------------+
| MySQL                                 |
+---------------------------------------+
1 row in set (0.00 sec)

SELECT CHAR(77,77.3,'77.3' USING utf8mb4);
+------------------------------------+
| CHAR(77,77.3,'77.3' USING utf8mb4) |
+------------------------------------+
| MMM                                |
+------------------------------------+
1 row in set, 1 warning (0.00 sec)

SHOW WARNINGS;
+---------+------+-------------------------------------------+
| Level   | Code | Message                                   |
+---------+------+-------------------------------------------+
| Warning | 1292 | Truncated incorrect INTEGER value: '77.3' |
+---------+------+-------------------------------------------+
1 row in set (0.00 sec)

Example 3

If USING is given and the result string is illegal for the given character set, a warning is issued. Also, if strict SQL mode is enabled, the result from CHAR() becomes NULL.

MYSQL

SELECT HEX(CHAR(1,0)), HEX(CHAR(256));
+----------------+----------------+
| HEX(CHAR(1,0)) | HEX(CHAR(256)) |
+----------------+----------------+
| 0100           | 0100           |
+----------------+----------------+
1 row in set (0.00 sec)

SELECT HEX(CHAR(1,0,0)), HEX(CHAR(256*256));
+------------------+--------------------+
| HEX(CHAR(1,0,0)) | HEX(CHAR(256*256)) |
+------------------+--------------------+
| 010000           | 010000             |
+------------------+--------------------+
1 row in set (0.00 sec)