CHAR

MySQL

Example

CREATE TABLE test (
  column_test CHAR(5)
);

INSERT INTO test(column_test)
VALUES ('abc');

Output

SELECT * FROM test;

column_test
abc

Explanation

In this example, a table named ‘test’ is created with a column ‘column_test’ which has the CHAR data type of length 5. The CHAR data type is a fixed length string data type, meaning that it will always use the same amount of storage space regardless of the length of data inserted. If the data inserted (‘abc’) is shorter than the declared length (5), the remaining space will be filled with blank spaces. When retrieved with a SELECT statement, ‘abc’ is displayed.

PostgreSQL

Example

CREATE TABLE Books(
    Title CHAR(50),
    AuthorName CHAR(30)
);

INSERT INTO Books(Title, AuthorName)
VALUES ('The Great Gatsby', 'F. Scott Fitzgerald');

Output

INSERT 0 1

Explanation

In this example, the CREATE TABLE query is used to create a new table, Books, with two columns: Title and AuthorName. The CHAR data type is used to define these columns where CHAR(50) specifies a fixed length character of 50 characters for Title and CHAR(30) for AuthorName.

Next, the INSERT INTO statement is used to insert a new row into the Books table, setting ‘The Great Gatsby’ as the Title and ‘F. Scott Fitzgerald’ as the AuthorName. The output ‘INSERT 0 1’ shows that one row was successfully inserted into the table.

SQL Server

Example

DECLARE @Sample CHAR(10);
SET @Sample = 'Hello';
SELECT @Sample AS CharOutput;

Output

CharOutput
----------
Hello

Explanation

The CHAR data type is a fixed-length data type in SQL Server. When a value is stored in a column of CHAR type, it is right-padded with spaces to the defined length. In this example, CHAR(10) is used to declare a variable @Sample. The value ‘Hello’ is stored in it, which only has 5 characters. When selected, the output is ‘Hello’ followed by 5 spaces, making up the total length 10.

Oracle

Example

CREATE TABLE example_char (
  example_column CHAR(10)
);

INSERT INTO example_char VALUES ('SQL');

SELECT * FROM example_char;

Output

EXAMPLE_COLUMN
---------------
SQL

Explanation

The CHAR data type is used to declare a fixed-length character string. The string value ‘SQL’ is inserted into the example_column of the example_char table, which has a fixed length of 10. Despite the value being only three characters long, the string will occupy 10 characters of space, as dictated by the CHAR(10) declaration.

SQLite

Example

CREATE TABLE Books (
    ID INTEGER,
    Path CHAR(255)
);

INSERT INTO Books(ID, Path) VALUES (1, '/home/user/documents/book.pdf');

Output

Query OK, 1 row affected (0.01 sec)

Explanation

In this example, a new table named Books is created. It has two columns, ID of integer type and Path of CHAR(255) type. Then, a row is inserted into the table with ID as 1 and a path to a hypothetical book location. The CHAR(255) type indicates that the Path column can store a sequence of 255 characters.