> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://mariadb.com/docs/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://mariadb.com/docs/server/reference/sql-functions/string-functions/char-function.md).

# CHAR Function

## Syntax

```bnf
CHAR(N,... [USING charset_name])
```

## Description

`CHAR()` interprets each argument as an [INT](/docs/server/reference/data-types/numeric-data-types/int.md) and returns a string consisting of the characters given by the code values of those integers. `NULL` values are skipped. By default, `CHAR()` returns a binary string. To produce a string in a given [character set](/docs/server/reference/data-types/string-data-types/character-sets.md), use the optional `USING` clause:

```sql
SELECT CHARSET(CHAR(0x65)), CHARSET(CHAR(0x65 USING utf8));
+---------------------+--------------------------------+
| CHARSET(CHAR(0x65)) | CHARSET(CHAR(0x65 USING utf8)) |
+---------------------+--------------------------------+
| binary              | utf8                           |
+---------------------+--------------------------------+
```

If `USING` is given and the result string is illegal for the given character set, a warning is issued. Also, if strict [SQL mode](/docs/server/server-management/variables-and-modes/sql_mode.md) is enabled, the result from `CHAR()` becomes `NULL`.

## Examples

```sql
SELECT CHAR(77,97,114,'105',97,'68',66);
+----------------------------------+
| CHAR(77,97,114,'105',97,'68',66) |
+----------------------------------+
| MariaDB                          |
+----------------------------------+

SELECT CHAR(77,77.3,'77.3');
+----------------------+
| CHAR(77,77.3,'77.3') |
+----------------------+
| MMM                  |
+----------------------+
1 row in set, 1 warning (0.00 sec)

Warning (Code 1292): Truncated incorrect INTEGER value: '77.3'
```

## See Also

* [Character Sets and Collations](/docs/server/reference/data-types/string-data-types/character-sets.md)
* [ASCII()](/docs/server/reference/sql-functions/string-functions/ascii.md) - Return ASCII value of first character
* [ORD()](/docs/server/reference/sql-functions/string-functions/ord.md) - Return value for character in single or multi-byte character sets
* [CHR](/docs/server/reference/sql-functions/string-functions/chr.md) - Similar, Oracle-compatible, function

<sub>*This page is licensed: GPLv2, originally from*</sub> [<sub>*fill\_help\_tables.sql*</sub>](https://github.com/MariaDB/server/blob/main/scripts/fill_help_tables.sql)

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