String

Function	Description
BIT_LENGTH	Returns the length of the input string in bits.
CONCAT	Returns all input expressions concatenated together as a string.
CONCAT_WS	Returns all input expressions concatenated together (and interleaved with a separator) as a string.
DATE	Converts a formatted date string to an actual Date value.
ENDS_WITH	Returns True if the value ends with the second argument.
INITCAP	Returns the value with the first letter capitalized.
LEFT	Returns the first (leftmost) n characters.
LENGTH	Returns the character length of the string.
LOWER	Returns a lowercased column.
LTRIM	Strips whitespaces from the left.
OCTET_LENGTH	Returns the length of a given string in bytes.
REGEXP_LIKE	Returns True if pattern matches the value (optional: flags).
REPLACE	Replaces a given substring with another string.
REVERSE	Returns the reversed string.
RIGHT	Returns the last (rightmost) n characters.
RTRIM	Strips whitespaces from the right.
STARTS_WITH	Returns True if the value starts with the second argument.
STRPOST	Returns the index of the given substring in the target string.
STRPTIME	Converts a string to a Datetime using a strftime-compatible formatting string.
SUBSTRING	Returns a portion of the data (first character = 0) in the range [start, start + length].
TIMESTAMP	Converts a formatted timestamp/datetime string to an actual Datetime value.
UPPER	Returns an uppercased column.

BIT_LENGTH

Returns the length of the input string in bits.

Example:

df = pl.DataFrame({"foo": ["a", "bb", "ccc", "dddd"]})
df.sql("""
  SELECT foo, BIT_LENGTH(foo) AS n_bits FROM self
""")
# shape: (4, 2)
# ┌──────┬────────┐
# │ foo  ┆ n_bits │
# │ ---  ┆ ---    │
# │ str  ┆ u32    │
# ╞══════╪════════╡
# │ a    ┆ 8      │
# │ bb   ┆ 16     │
# │ ccc  ┆ 24     │
# │ dddd ┆ 32     │
# └──────┴────────┘

CONCAT

Returns all input expressions concatenated together as a string.

Example:

df = pl.DataFrame(
  {
    "foo": ["aa", "b", "c", "dd"],
    "bar": ["zz", "yy", "xx", "ww"],
  }
)
df.sql("""
  SELECT CONCAT(foo, bar) AS foobar FROM self
""")
# shape: (4, 1)
# ┌────────┐
# │ foobar │
# │ ---    │
# │ str    │
# ╞════════╡
# │ aazz   │
# │ byy    │
# │ cxx    │
# │ ddww   │
# └────────┘

CONCAT_WS

Returns all input expressions concatenated together (and interleaved with a separator) as a string.

Example:

df = pl.DataFrame(
  {
    "foo": ["aa", "b", "c", "dd"],
    "bar": ["zz", "yy", "xx", "ww"],
  }
)
df.sql("""
  SELECT CONCAT_WS(':', foo, bar) AS foobar FROM self
""")
# shape: (4, 1)
# ┌────────┐
# │ foobar │
# │ ---    │
# │ str    │
# ╞════════╡
# │ aa:zz  │
# │ b:yy   │
# │ c:xx   │
# │ dd:ww  │
# └────────┘

DATE

Converts a formatted string date to an actual Date type; ISO-8601 format is assumed unless a strftime-compatible formatting string is provided as the second parameter.

Tip

DATE is also supported as a typed literal (this form does not allow a format string).

SELECT DATE '2021-01-01' AS dt

Example:

df = pl.DataFrame(
  {
    "s_dt1": ["1969-10-30", "2024-07-05", "2077-02-28"],
    "s_dt2": ["10 February 1920", "5 July 2077", "28 April 2000"],
  }
)
df.sql("""
  SELECT
    DATE(s_dt1) AS dt1,
    DATE(s_dt2, '%d %B %Y') AS dt2
  FROM self
""")
# shape: (3, 2)
# ┌────────────┬────────────┐
# │ dt1        ┆ dt2        │
# │ ---        ┆ ---        │
# │ date       ┆ date       │
# ╞════════════╪════════════╡
# │ 1969-10-30 ┆ 1920-02-10 │
# │ 2024-07-05 ┆ 2077-07-05 │
# │ 2077-02-28 ┆ 2000-04-28 │
# └────────────┴────────────┘

ENDS_WITH

Returns True if the value ends with the second argument.

Example:

df = pl.DataFrame(
  {
    "foo": ["aa", "bb", "cc", "dd"],
    "bar": ["zz", "yy", "xx", "ww"],
  }
)
df.sql("""
  SELECT foo, ENDS_WITH(foo, 'a') AS ends_a FROM self
""")
# shape: (4, 2)
# ┌─────┬────────┐
# │ foo ┆ ends_a │
# │ --- ┆ ---    │
# │ str ┆ bool   │
# ╞═════╪════════╡
# │ aa  ┆ true   │
# │ bb  ┆ false  │
# │ cc  ┆ false  │
# │ dd  ┆ false  │
# └─────┴────────┘

INITCAP

Returns the value with the first letter capitalized.

Example:

df = pl.DataFrame({"bar": ["zz", "yy", "xx", "ww"]})
df.sql("""
  SELECT bar, INITCAP(bar) AS baz FROM self
""")
# shape: (4, 2)
# ┌─────┬─────┐
# │ bar ┆ baz │
# │ --- ┆ --- │
# │ str ┆ str │
# ╞═════╪═════╡
# │ zz  ┆ Zz  │
# │ yy  ┆ Yy  │
# │ xx  ┆ Xx  │
# │ ww  ┆ Ww  │
# └─────┴─────┘

LEFT

Returns the first (leftmost) n characters.

Example:

df = pl.DataFrame(
  {
    "foo": ["abcd", "efgh", "ijkl", "mnop"],
    "bar": ["zz", "yy", "xx", "ww"],
  }
)
df.sql("""
  SELECT
    LEFT(foo, 1) AS foo1,
    LEFT(bar, 2) AS bar2
  FROM self
""")

# shape: (4, 2)
# ┌──────┬──────┐
# │ foo1 ┆ bar2 │
# │ ---  ┆ ---  │
# │ str  ┆ str  │
# ╞══════╪══════╡
# │ a    ┆ zz   │
# │ e    ┆ yy   │
# │ i    ┆ xx   │
# │ m    ┆ ww   │
# └──────┴──────┘

LENGTH

Returns the character length of the string.

Aliases

CHAR_LENGTH, CHARACTER_LENGTH

Example:

df = pl.DataFrame(
  {
    "iso_lang":["de", "ru", "es"],
    "color": ["weiß", "синий", "amarillo"],
  }
)
df.sql("""
  SELECT
    iso_lang,
    color,
    LENGTH(color) AS n_chars,
    OCTET_LENGTH(color) AS n_bytes
  FROM self
""")

# shape: (3, 4)
# ┌──────────┬──────────┬─────────┬─────────┐
# │ iso_lang ┆ color    ┆ n_chars ┆ n_bytes │
# │ ---      ┆ ---      ┆ ---     ┆ ---     │
# │ str      ┆ str      ┆ u32     ┆ u32     │
# ╞══════════╪══════════╪═════════╪═════════╡
# │ de       ┆ weiß     ┆ 4       ┆ 5       │
# │ ru       ┆ синий    ┆ 5       ┆ 10      │
# │ es       ┆ amarillo ┆ 8       ┆ 8       │
# └──────────┴──────────┴─────────┴─────────┘

LOWER

Returns a lowercased column.

Example:

df = pl.DataFrame({"foo": ["AA", "BB", "CC", "DD"]})
df.sql("""
  SELECT foo, LOWER(foo) AS foo_lower FROM self
""")
# shape: (4, 2)
# ┌─────┬───────────┐
# │ foo ┆ foo_lower │
# │ --- ┆ ---       │
# │ str ┆ str       │
# ╞═════╪═══════════╡
# │ AA  ┆ aa        │
# │ BB  ┆ bb        │
# │ CC  ┆ cc        │
# │ DD  ┆ dd        │
# └─────┴───────────┘

LTRIM

Strips whitespaces from the left.

Example:

df = pl.DataFrame({"foo": ["   AA", " BB", "CC", "  DD"]})
df.sql("""
  SELECT foo, LTRIM(foo) AS trimmed FROM self
""")
# shape: (4, 2)
# ┌───────┬─────────┐
# │ foo   ┆ trimmed │
# │ ---   ┆ ---     │
# │ str   ┆ str     │
# ╞═══════╪═════════╡
# │    AA ┆ AA      │
# │  BB   ┆ BB      │
# │ CC    ┆ CC      │
# │   DD  ┆ DD      │
# └───────┴─────────┘

OCTET_LENGTH

Returns the length of a given string in bytes.

Example:

df = pl.DataFrame(
  {
    "iso_lang":["de", "ru", "es"],
    "color": ["weiß", "синий", "amarillo"],
  }
)
df.sql("""
  SELECT
    iso_lang,
    color,
    OCTET_LENGTH(color) AS n_bytes,
    LENGTH(color) AS n_chars
  FROM self
""")
# shape: (3, 4)
# ┌──────────┬──────────┬─────────┬─────────┐
# │ iso_lang ┆ color    ┆ n_bytes ┆ n_chars │
# │ ---      ┆ ---      ┆ ---     ┆ ---     │
# │ str      ┆ str      ┆ u32     ┆ u32     │
# ╞══════════╪══════════╪═════════╪═════════╡
# │ de       ┆ weiß     ┆ 5       ┆ 4       │
# │ ru       ┆ синий    ┆ 10      ┆ 5       │
# │ es       ┆ amarillo ┆ 8       ┆ 8       │
# └──────────┴──────────┴─────────┴─────────┘

REGEXP_LIKE

Returns True if pattern matches the value (optional: flags).

Example:

df = pl.DataFrame({"foo": ["abc123", "4ab4a", "abc456", "321cba"]})
df.sql(r"""
  SELECT foo, REGEXP_LIKE(foo, '\d$') AS ends_in_digit FROM self
""")
# shape: (4, 2)
# ┌────────┬───────────────┐
# │ foo    ┆ ends_in_digit │
# │ ---    ┆ ---           │
# │ str    ┆ bool          │
# ╞════════╪═══════════════╡
# │ abc123 ┆ true          │
# │ 4ab4a  ┆ false         │
# │ abc456 ┆ true          │
# │ 321cba ┆ false         │
# └────────┴───────────────┘

REPLACE

Replaces a given substring with another string.

Example:

df = pl.DataFrame({"foo": ["abc123", "11aabb", "bcbc45"]})
df.sql("""
  SELECT foo, REPLACE(foo, 'b', '?') AS bar FROM self
""")
# shape: (3, 2)
# ┌────────┬────────┐
# │ foo    ┆ bar    │
# │ ---    ┆ ---    │
# │ str    ┆ str    │
# ╞════════╪════════╡
# │ abc123 ┆ a?c123 │
# │ 11aabb ┆ 11aa?? │
# │ bcbc45 ┆ ?c?c45 │
# └────────┴────────┘

REVERSE

Returns the reversed string.

Example:

df = pl.DataFrame({"foo": ["apple", "banana", "orange", "grape"]})
df.sql("""
  SELECT foo, REVERSE(foo) AS oof FROM self
""")
# shape: (4, 2)
# ┌────────┬────────┐
# │ foo    ┆ oof    │
# │ ---    ┆ ---    │
# │ str    ┆ str    │
# ╞════════╪════════╡
# │ apple  ┆ elppa  │
# │ banana ┆ ananab │
# │ orange ┆ egnaro │
# │ grape  ┆ eparg  │
# └────────┴────────┘

RIGHT

Returns the last (rightmost) n characters.

Example:

df = pl.DataFrame({"foo": ["ab", "cde", "fghi", "jklmn"]})
df.sql("""
  SELECT foo, RIGHT(foo, 2) AS bar FROM self
""")
# shape: (4, 2)
# ┌───────┬─────┐
# │ foo   ┆ bar │
# │ ---   ┆ --- │
# │ str   ┆ str │
# ╞═══════╪═════╡
# │ ab    ┆ ab  │
# │ cde   ┆ de  │
# │ fghi  ┆ hi  │
# │ jklmn ┆ mn  │
# └───────┴─────┘

RTRIM

Strips whitespaces from the right.

Example:

df = pl.DataFrame({"bar": ["zz    ", "yy  ", "xx ", "ww   "]})
df.sql("""
  SELECT bar, RTRIM(bar) AS baz FROM self
""")
# shape: (4, 2)
# ┌────────┬─────┐
# │ bar    ┆ baz │
# │ ---    ┆ --- │
# │ str    ┆ str │
# ╞════════╪═════╡
# │ zz     ┆ zz  │
# │ yy     ┆ yy  │
# │ xx     ┆ xx  │
# │ ww     ┆ ww  │
# └────────┴─────┘

STARTS_WITH

Returns True if the value starts with the second argument.

Example:

df = pl.DataFrame({"foo": ["apple", "banana", "avocado", "grape"]})
df.sql("""
  SELECT foo, STARTS_WITH(foo, 'a') AS starts_a FROM self
""")
# shape: (4, 2)
# ┌─────────┬──────────┐
# │ foo     ┆ starts_a │
# │ ---     ┆ ---      │
# │ str     ┆ bool     │
# ╞═════════╪══════════╡
# │ apple   ┆ true     │
# │ banana  ┆ false    │
# │ avocado ┆ true     │
# │ grape   ┆ false    │
# └─────────┴──────────┘

STRPOS

Returns the index of the given substring in the target string.

Example:

df = pl.DataFrame({"foo": ["apple", "banana", "orange", "grape"]})
df.sql("""
  SELECT foo, STRPOS(foo, 'a') AS pos_a FROM self
""")
# shape: (4, 2)
# ┌────────┬───────┐
# │ foo    ┆ pos_a │
# │ ---    ┆ ---   │
# │ str    ┆ u32   │
# ╞════════╪═══════╡
# │ apple  ┆ 1     │
# │ banana ┆ 2     │
# │ orange ┆ 3     │
# │ grape  ┆ 3     │
# └────────┴───────┘

STRPTIME

Converts a string to a Datetime using a chrono strftime-compatible formatting string.

Example:

df = pl.DataFrame(
  {
    "s_dt": ["1969 Oct 30", "2024 Jul 05", "2077 Feb 28"],
    "s_tm": ["00.30.55", "12.40.15", "10.45.00"],
  }
)
df.sql("""
  SELECT
    s_dt,
    s_tm,
    STRPTIME(s_dt || ' ' || s_tm, '%Y %b %d %H.%M.%S') AS dtm
  FROM self
""")
# shape: (3, 3)
# ┌─────────────┬──────────┬─────────────────────┐
# │ s_dt        ┆ s_tm     ┆ dtm                 │
# │ ---         ┆ ---      ┆ ---                 │
# │ str         ┆ str      ┆ datetime[μs]        │
# ╞═════════════╪══════════╪═════════════════════╡
# │ 1969 Oct 30 ┆ 00.30.55 ┆ 1969-10-30 00:30:55 │
# │ 2024 Jul 05 ┆ 12.40.15 ┆ 2024-07-05 12:40:15 │
# │ 2077 Feb 28 ┆ 10.45.00 ┆ 2077-02-28 10:45:00 │
# └─────────────┴──────────┴─────────────────────┘

SUBSTRING

Returns a slice of the string data (1-indexed) in the range [start, start + length].

Example:

df = pl.DataFrame({"foo": ["apple", "banana", "orange", "grape"]})
df.sql("""
  SELECT foo, SUBSTR(foo, 3, 4) AS foo_3_4 FROM self
""")
# shape: (4, 2)
# ┌────────┬─────────┐
# │ foo    ┆ foo_3_4 │
# │ ---    ┆ ---     │
# │ str    ┆ str     │
# ╞════════╪═════════╡
# │ apple  ┆ ple     │
# │ banana ┆ nana    │
# │ orange ┆ ange    │
# │ grape  ┆ ape     │
# └────────┴─────────┘

TIMESTAMP

Converts a formatted string date to an actual Datetime type; ISO-8601 format is assumed unless a strftime-compatible formatting string is provided as the second parameter.

Aliases

DATETIME

Tip

TIMESTAMP is also supported as a typed literal (this form does not allow a format string).

SELECT TIMESTAMP '2077-12-10 22:30:45' AS ts

Example:

df = pl.DataFrame(
  {
    "str_timestamp": [
      "1969 July 30, 00:30:55",
      "2030-October-08, 12:40:15",
      "2077 February 28, 10:45:00",
    ]
  }
)
df.sql("""
  SELECT str_timestamp, TIMESTAMP(str_date, '%Y.%m.%d') AS date FROM self
""")
# shape: (3, 2)
# ┌────────────┬────────────┐
# │ str_date   ┆ date       │
# │ ---        ┆ ---        │
# │ str        ┆ date       │
# ╞════════════╪════════════╡
# │ 1969.10.30 ┆ 1969-10-30 │
# │ 2024.07.05 ┆ 2024-07-05 │
# │ 2077.02.28 ┆ 2077-02-28 │
# └────────────┴────────────┘

UPPER

Returns an uppercased column.

Example:

df = pl.DataFrame({"foo": ["apple", "banana", "orange", "grape"]})
df.sql("""
  SELECT foo, UPPER(foo) AS foo_upper FROM self
""")
# shape: (4, 2)
# ┌────────┬───────────┐
# │ foo    ┆ foo_upper │
# │ ---    ┆ ---       │
# │ str    ┆ str       │
# ╞════════╪═══════════╡
# │ apple  ┆ APPLE     │
# │ banana ┆ BANANA    │
# │ orange ┆ ORANGE    │
# │ grape  ┆ GRAPE     │
# └────────┴───────────┘