SQL Server SPACE Function

Summary: in this tutorial, you will learn how to use the SQL Server SPACE() function to generate a string of repeated spaces.

Introduction to SQL Server SPACE() function

The SPACE() function returns a string of repeated spaces. The following shows the syntax of the SPACE() function:

SPACE(count);
Code language: SQL (Structured Query Language) (sql)

In this syntax, count is a positive integer that specifies the number of spaces. If count is negative, the function will return NULL.

SQL Server SPACE() function example

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

A) Using SPACE() function with literal strings

This example concatenates three strings 'John', space, and 'Doe' into one. Instead of using the space literal ' ', we use the SPACE() function:

SELECT 
    'John' + SPACE(1) + 'Doe' full_name;Code language: SQL (Structured Query Language) (sql)

Here is the output:

full_name
---------
John Doe

(1 row affected)

B) Using SPACE() function with table column

The following example uses the SPACE() function to concatenate the first name, space, and last name in the sales.customers table into the full name:

SELECT
    first_name + SPACE(1) + last_name full_name
FROM
    sales.customers
ORDER BY
    first_name,
    last_name;
Code language: SQL (Structured Query Language) (sql)

The following picture shows the partial output:

In this tutorial, you have learned how to use the SQL Server SPACE() function to generate a sequence of spaces.