Oracle CONCAT function

Preamble

The Oracle/PLSQL CONCAT function allows two lines to be connected together.

Syntax of the Oracle/PLSQL CONCAT function

CONCAT( string1_id, string2_id )

Parameters and function arguments

• string1_id – the first line for connection
• string2_id – is the second line for connection

The CONCAT function returns a string value.

The CONCAT function in the following Oracle/PLSQL versions

Let’s look at some examples of the CONCAT function and learn how to use the CONCAT function in Oracle PLSQL.

SQL> select CONCAT ("The butt", "had a dog") from dual;
--Result: The butt had a dog.

SQL> select CONCAT('a', 'b') from dual;
--Result: ab

FAQ

Question:
How can I use the CONCAT function to combine more than 2 lines?

The answer is:
Since the CONCAT function only allows 2 lines to be joined, you have to use an attachment of several CONCAT functions to join more than 2 lines together.

For example, to combine 3 lines, you could nest a CONCAT function as follows:

CONCAT( CONCAT( string1, string2 ), string3 )

Or you could nest the CONCAT function as follows, if you want to combine four lines:

CONCAT( CONCAT( string1, string2 ), string3 ), string4 )

Here is an example that shows how to nest several Concat functions to combine 6 lines:

SQL> select CONCAT( CONCAT( CONCAT( CONCAT(
"The butt", "had a dog", "he loved her. '', ''She ate'', ''a piece of meat'',)
"he killed her.") from dual;
----------------------------------------------------------------
The butt had a dog, he loved her. She ate a piece of meat, he killed her.

CONCAT is one of the methods to combine strings in Oracle. The alternative to using the CONCAT function is to use the operator | | to combine several lines:

SQL> select 'The butt' || 'had a dog' || ' he loved her. ' || 'She ate' || ' a piece of meat ' || 'he killed her.' from dual;
----------------------------------------------------------------
The butt had a dog, he loved it. She ate a piece of meat, he killed her.

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