Initial Query Attempt:
Consider the following query, which attempts to sort data by string length:
<code class="sql">SELECT * FROM table ORDER BY string_length(column);</code>
However, this query produces an error. Despite the existence of a string_length function in MySQL, it cannot be used to sort data.
Solution: Using CHAR_LENGTH()
To sort data by string length, you need to use the CHAR_LENGTH() function. Unlike string_length, CHAR_LENGTH() returns the number of characters in a string, not the number of bytes.
Updated Query:
<code class="sql">SELECT * FROM table ORDER BY CHAR_LENGTH(column);</code>
Difference between LENGTH() and CHAR_LENGTH()
For multi-byte character sets (e.g., UTF-8), LENGTH() will return the number of bytes in a string, while CHAR_LENGTH() will return the number of characters. Therefore, for multi-byte character sets, you should use CHAR_LENGTH() for accurate string length calculations.
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