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INSTR

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Returns the first position of the given search string.

Syntax

INSTR (str, searchstr)

Arguments

  • str: any string or binary object

  • searchstr: string to search for

Note

This function is identical to LOCATE but with the arguments reversed.

Return Type

Integer position, one-indexed. 0 if not found.

Examples

SELECT INSTR('ohai', 'i');
+--------------------+
| INSTR('ohai', 'i') |
+--------------------+
|                  4 |
+--------------------+
SELECT INSTR('ohai', 'z');
+--------------------+
| INSTR('ohai', 'z') |
+--------------------+
|                  0 |
+--------------------+

Caution

Implicit Collation

When character_set_server is set to utf8, string literals with characters using 4-byte encoding are implicitly assigned binary collation and processed as a sequence of bytes rather than characters. This implicit conversion to binary collation causes string functions to return unexpected results. To avoid using implicit binary collation, either use explicit type casting or use database columns defined with the utf8mb4 character set.

Last modified: April 4, 2023

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