16.5. String functions

16.5.1. STR
16.5.2. REPLACE
16.5.3. SUBSTRING
16.5.4. LEFT
16.5.5. RIGHT
16.5.6. LTRIM
16.5.7. RTRIM
16.5.8. TRIM
16.5.9. LOWER
16.5.10. UPPER

These functions all operate on string expressions only, and will return an error if used on any other values. Except STR(), which converts to strings.

See also Section 12.1.4, “String operators”.

Figure 16.5. Graph


16.5.1. STR

STR returns a string representation of the expression.

Syntax: STR( expression )

Arguments:

  • expression: An expression that returns anything

Query. 

MATCH a
RETURN str(1)
LIMIT 1

A string.

Result

str(1)
1 row

"1"


16.5.2. REPLACE

REPLACE returns a string with the search string replaced by the replace string. It replaces all occurrences.

Syntax: REPLACE( original, search, replace )

Arguments:

  • original: An expression that returns a string
  • search: An expression that returns a string to search for
  • replace: An expression that returns the string to replace the search string with

Query. 

MATCH a
RETURN replace('hello' , 'l' , 'w')
LIMIT 1

A string.

Result

replace("hello", "l", "w")
1 row

"hewwo"


16.5.3. SUBSTRING

SUBSTRING returns a substring of the original, with a 0-based index start and length. If length is omitted, it returns a substring from start until the end of the string.

Syntax: SUBSTRING( original, start [, length] )

Arguments:

  • original: An expression that returns a string
  • start: An expression that returns a positive number
  • length: An expression that returns a positive number

Query. 

MATCH n
RETURN substring('hello' , 1, 3), substring('hello' , 2)
LIMIT 1

A string.

Result

substring("hello", 1, 3)substring("hello", 2)
1 row

"ell"

"llo"


16.5.4. LEFT

LEFT returns a string containing the left n characters of the original string.

Syntax: LEFT( original, length )

Arguments:

  • original: An expression that returns a string
  • n: An expression that returns a positive number

Query. 

MATCH n
RETURN left('hello' , 3)
LIMIT 1

A String.

Result

left("hello", 3)
1 row

"hel"


16.5.5. RIGHT

RIGHT returns a string containing the right n characters of the original string.

Syntax: RIGHT( original, length )

Arguments:

  • original: An expression that returns a string
  • n: An expression that returns a positive number

Query. 

MATCH n
RETURN right('hello' , 3)
LIMIT 1

A string.

Result

right("hello", 3)
1 row

"llo"


16.5.6. LTRIM

LTRIM returns the original string with whitespace removed from the left side.

Syntax: LTRIM( original )

Arguments:

  • original: An expression that returns a string

Query. 

MATCH n
RETURN ltrim('   hello')
LIMIT 1

A string.

Result

ltrim(" hello")
1 row

"hello"


16.5.7. RTRIM

RTRIM returns the original string with whitespace removed from the right side.

Syntax: RTRIM( original )

Arguments:

  • original: An expression that returns a string

Query. 

MATCH n
RETURN rtrim('hello   ')
LIMIT 1

A string.

Result

rtrim("hello ")
1 row

"hello"


16.5.8. TRIM

TRIM returns the original string with whitespace removed from both sides.

Syntax: TRIM( original )

Arguments:

  • original: An expression that returns a string

Query. 

MATCH n
RETURN trim('   hello   ')
LIMIT 1

A string.

Result

trim(" hello ")
1 row

"hello"


16.5.9. LOWER

LOWER returns the original string in lowercase.

Syntax: LOWER( original )

Arguments:

  • original: An expression that returns a string

Query. 

MATCH n
RETURN lower('HELLO')
LIMIT 1

A string.

Result

lower("HELLO")
1 row

"hello"


16.5.10. UPPER

UPPER returns the original string in uppercase.

Syntax: UPPER( original )

Arguments:

  • original: An expression that returns a string

Query. 

MATCH a
RETURN upper('hello')
LIMIT 1

A string.

Result

upper("hello")
1 row

"HELLO"