Example

Search for "3" in string "W3Schools.com", and return position:

SELECT LOCATE("3", "W3Schools.com") AS MatchPosition;

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Definition and Usage

The LOCATE() function returns the position of the first occurrence of a substring in a string.

If the substring is not found within the original string, this function returns 0.

This function performs a case-insensitive search.

Note: This function is equal to the POSITION() function.

Syntax

LOCATE(substring, string, start)

Parameter Values

Parameter	Description
substring	Required. The substring to search for in string
string	Required. The string that will be searched
start	Optional. The starting position for the search. Position 1 is default

Technical Details

Works in:

From MySQL 4.0

More Examples

Example

Search for "com" in string "W3Schools.com" (start at position 3), and return position:

SELECT LOCATE("com", "W3Schools.com", 3) AS MatchPosition;

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Example

Search for "a" in CustomerName column, and return position:

SELECT LOCATE("a", CustomerName)
FROM Customers;

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