How to Concatenate Multiple Columns and Add Text in Oracle SQL?

Combining Multiple Columns and Incorporating Text in Oracle SQL

Efficiently presenting data often requires combining information from multiple columns into a single, more readable format. This frequently involves adding descriptive text. Oracle SQL offers straightforward methods to achieve this using its string concatenation functions.

Utilizing CONCAT or the || Operator

Oracle provides two primary approaches for string concatenation:

• CONCAT Function: This function merges multiple string arguments into a single resultant string.
• || Operator: This operator directly concatenates two strings. It's generally preferred for its conciseness.

Illustrative Example: Combining Columns with Added Text

Imagine a table named "Products" with columns "productName", "description", and "price". The goal is to create a new column, "productDetails", displaying information in this format:

<code>Product: [productName], Description: [description], Price: $[price]</code>

Using CONCAT: (While functional, this method is less readable)

<code class="language-sql">CONCAT(
  CONCAT(
    CONCAT('Product: ', productName), ', Description: '),
    CONCAT(description, ', Price: $'), price
  )
)</code>

Using the || Operator: (More efficient and readable)

<code class="language-sql">'Product: ' || productName || ', Description: ' || description || ', Price: $' || price</code>

Output:

Both methods will generate the "productDetails" column with the desired output, for example:

<code>Product: Widget X, Description: A useful gadget, Price: .99
Product: Widget Y, Description: Another great item, Price: .99</code>

This demonstrates the flexibility of Oracle's string manipulation capabilities for creating custom data presentations. The || operator offers a cleaner and more efficient solution compared to nested CONCAT functions for this common task.

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