SQL MID() Function

The MID() Function

The MID() function is used to extract characters from a text field.

SELECT MID(column_name,start,length) AS some_name FROM table_name;

Parameter	Description
column_name	Required. The field to extract characters from
start	Required. Specifies the starting position (starts at 1)
length	Optional. The number of characters to return. If omitted, the MID() function returns the rest of the text

Note: The equivalent function for SQL Server is SUBSTRING():

SELECT SUBSTRING(column_name,start,length) AS some_name FROM table_name;

In this tutorial we will use the well-known Northwind sample database.

Below is a selection from the "Customers" table:

CustomerID	CustomerName	ContactName	Address	City	PostalCode	Country
1	Alfreds Futterkiste	Maria Anders	Obere Str. 57	Berlin	12209	Germany
2	Ana Trujillo Emparedados y helados	Ana Trujillo	Avda. de la Constitución 2222	México D.F.	05021	Mexico
3	Antonio Moreno Taquería	Antonio Moreno	Mataderos 2312	México D.F.	05023	Mexico
4	Around the Horn	Thomas Hardy	120 Hanover Sq.	London	WA1 1DP	UK
5	Berglunds snabbköp	Christina Berglund	Berguvsvägen 8	Luleå	S-958 22	Sweden

The following SQL statement selects the first four characters from the "City" column from the "Customers" table:

SELECT MID(City,1,4) AS ShortCity
FROM Customers;