This SQL tutorial focuses on SQL Server String Concatenation, and provides explanations, examples, and exercises. For this lesson’s exercises, use this link.
This tutorial is a part of several posts explaining how to write basic queries in SQL Server. To read additional posts regarding this subject, please use the following links:
- Writing Basic SQL SELECT statements
- SQL Arithmetic Operators
- SQL Column Aliases
- SQL String Concatenation
- SQL DISTINCT keyword
SQL Server Basic String Concatenation
SQL Server String concatenation allows you to append one string to the end of another string. To display the contents of two columns or more under the name of a single column, you can use the concatenation operator (+).
For example, to display the employee’s first name along with his or her last name, use the following SQL Server statement:
SELECT first_name + last_name FROM employees
The result :
(No column name) ------------------------ JohnSmith
SQL Server – Concatenate Two Fields with a Space
While in the previous example, the requested result – merging two values from two different columns – has been achieved, the end result is still quite unreadable, as we have no space seperator between the first name and the last name. Therefore, it is advisable to also concatenate a space (‘ ‘) :
SELECT first_name + ' ' + last_name FROM employees
The result :
(No column name) ----------------------------- John Smith
Using a SQL Server Column Alias
To make the result more readable, use a SQL Server Column Alias:
SELECT first_name + ' ' + last_name AS 'FullName' FROM employees
The Result :
FullName -------------- John Smith
SQL Server – Retrieving additional columns
In SQL Server, If after or before this concatenation you would like to display an additional separate column, simply use a comma (,):
SELECT city, first_name + ' ' + last_name AS 'FullName', salary FROM employees
The result:
city FullName salary ------ ---------- ------------- London John Smith 5800
SQL Server – Concatenate more than two values
In SQL Server it is possible to create more complicated concatenations as required:
SELECT 'Employee Name : ' + first_name + ' - ' + last_name AS 'E_DETAILS', FROM employees
The result :
E_Details ----------------------------- Employee Name : John- Smith
