How to return the second to last character in a string using SQL

Question

I am trying to only return the second to last character from a string using MS SQL.

I've tried using MID and Substring but the length of the string isn't always the same for the column I am trying to return, So I can't do it that way.

So say I am returning the codes of something:

Code
'1234'

I want to just return '3' from that code.

How can I do this? Cheers in advance :)

For sure you can use substring on variable column lengths

Jose Rui Santos
– Jose Rui Santos

2014-10-20 11:36:56 +00:00
Commented Oct 20, 2014 at 11:36 — Jose Rui Santos
– Jose Rui Santos, Commented Oct 20, 2014 at 11:36

DavidG · Accepted Answer · 2014-10-20 11:36:54Z

5

Use SUBSTRING and LEN. LEN gives you the length of the string, then subtract 1 to get the previous char:

SELECT SUBSTRING(Code, LEN(Code)-1,1)

answered Oct 20, 2014 at 11:36

DavidG

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1 Comment

BenYeomans Over a year ago

Thanks so much new to this and this problem has been bugging me for hours!!

StuartLC · Accepted Answer · 2014-10-20 11:39:01Z

2

How about

select left(right(code, 2), 1) from MyTable;

You might need to validate that the string actually has at least 2 chars, however.

SqlFiddle here

answered Oct 20, 2014 at 11:39

StuartLC

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