SQLite concat() Function

Summary: in this tutorial, you will learn how to use the concat() function and concatenation operator (||) and to concatenate two strings into a string.

Introduction to SQLite concat() function #

In SQLite, the concat() function allows you to concatenate multiple strings into a single string. Here’s the syntax of the concat() function:

concat(s1, s2, ...);Copy

In this syntax:

• s1, s2, .. are the strings that you want to concatenate.

The concat() function returns a string that is the result of concatenating the input strings.

The concat() function treats NULL as an empty string. If all the input strings are NULLs, the concat() function returns an empty string.

SQLite concat() function examples #

Let’s take some examples of using the concat() function.

1) Basic concat() function example #

The following example uses the concat() function to concatenate two strings into a string:

SELECT concat('SQLite', ' Concat') result;Copy

Output:

result
-------------
SQLite ConcatCopy

The following statement uses the concat() function to concatenate three strings into a single string:

SELECT concat('SQLite',' ','Concat') result;Copy

Output:

result
-------------
SQLite ConcatCopy

2) Using concat() function with table data #

We’ll use the employees table from the sample database.

The following example uses the concat() function to concatenate the first name, space, and last name of employees to form full names:

SELECT
    concat(FirstName,' ', LastName) FullName
FROM
    Employees
ORDER BY
    FullName;Copy

Output:

FullName
----------------
Andrew Adams
Jane Peacock
Laura Callahan
Margaret Park
Michael Mitchell
Nancy Edwards
Robert King
Steve JohnsonCopy

SQLite concatenation operator (||) #

Besides the concat() function, SQLite provides the concatenation operator (||) to join two strings into one string.

Here’s the syntax of the concatenation operator:

s1 || s2Copy

It is possible to use multiple concatenation operators in the same expression:

s1 || s2 || s3Copy

The following example shows how to concatenate two literal strings into one:

SELECT 'SQLite ' || 'concat' result;Copy

Here is the output:

result
-------------
SQLite concatCopy

The following example illustrates how to use two concatenation operators in the same expression:

SELECT 'SQLite' || ' ' || 'concat' result;Copy

Output:

result
-------------
SQLite concatCopy

This example shows how to construct the full name of employees from the first name, space, and last name:

SELECT
    FirstName || ' ' || LastName AS FullName
FROM
    Employees
ORDER BY
    FullName;Copy

Output:

FullName
----------------
Andrew Adams
Jane Peacock
Laura Callahan
Margaret Park
Michael Mitchell
Nancy Edwards
Robert King
Steve JohnsonCopy

Summary #

• Use the concat() function to concatenate multiple strings into a single string.
• Use the concatenation operator (||) to join multiple strings into one string.

Was this tutorial helpful?

YesNo