str-transact-sql.md

title	STR (Transact-SQL) | Microsoft Docs
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ms.date	03/16/2017
ms.prod	sql
ms.prod_service	database-engine, sql-database, sql-data-warehouse, pdw
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ms.technology	t-sql
ms.topic	language-reference
f1_keywords	STR STR_TSQL
dev_langs	TSQL
helpviewer_keywords	converting numbers to characters characters [SQL Server], converting character data [SQL Server] STR function
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STR (Transact-SQL)

[!INCLUDEtsql-appliesto-ss2008-all-md]

Returns character data converted from numeric data.

Transact-SQL Syntax Conventions

Syntax

STR ( float_expression [ , length [ , decimal ] ] )  

Arguments

float_expression
Is an expression of approximate numeric (float) data type with a decimal point.

length
Is the total length. This includes decimal point, sign, digits, and spaces. The default is 10.

decimal
Is the number of places to the right of the decimal point. decimal must be less than or equal to 16. If decimal is more than 16 then the result is truncated to sixteen places to the right of the decimal point.

Return Types

varchar

Remarks

If supplied, the values for length and decimal parameters to STR should be positive. The number is rounded to an integer by default or if the decimal parameter is 0. The specified length should be greater than or equal to the part of the number before the decimal point plus the number's sign (if any). A short float_expression is right-justified in the specified length, and a long float_expression is truncated to the specified number of decimal places. For example, STR(12**,10) yields the result of 12. This is right-justified in the result set. However, STR(1223,**2) truncates the result set to **. String functions can be nested.

Note

To convert to Unicode data, use STR inside a CONVERT or CAST conversion function.

Examples

The following example converts an expression that is made up of five digits and a decimal point to a six-position character string. The fractional part of the number is rounded to one decimal place.

SELECT STR(123.45, 6, 1);  
GO  

[!INCLUDEssResult]

------  
 123.5  
  
(1 row(s) affected)  

When the expression exceeds the specified length, the string returns ** for the specified length.

SELECT STR(123.45, 2, 2);  
GO  

[!INCLUDEssResult]

--  
**  
  
(1 row(s) affected)  

Even when numeric data is nested within STR, the result is character data with the specified format.

SELECT STR (FLOOR (123.45), 8, 3);
GO  

[!INCLUDEssResult]

--------  
 123.000  
  
(1 row(s) affected)  

See Also

CAST and CONVERT (Transact-SQL)
FORMAT (Transact-SQL)
String Functions (Transact-SQL)