LPAD in SQL Server 2008

Question

I can\'t see a function like LPAD in SQL Server 2008. For example how can I convert the following queries into T-SQL?

select  LPAD(MY_VALUE,2,\'          


        

Answer 1

I've come up with a LPAD and RPAD function where you can use a characterstring for the pad-part.

They should work the same as the DB2 versions.

Here's the LPAD:

CREATE FUNCTION dbo.LPAD
(
    @string NVARCHAR(MAX), -- Initial string
    @length INT,           -- Size of final string
    @pad NVARCHAR(MAX)     -- Pad string
)
RETURNS VARCHAR(MAX)
AS
BEGIN
    RETURN SUBSTRING(REPLICATE(@pad, @length),1,@length - LEN(@string)) + @string;
END
GO

And here is the RPAD:

CREATE FUNCTION dbo.RPAD
(
    @string NVARCHAR(MAX), -- Initial string
    @length INT,           -- Size of final string
    @pad NVARCHAR(MAX)     -- Pad string
)
RETURNS VARCHAR(MAX)
AS
BEGIN
    RETURN @string + SUBSTRING(REPLICATE(@pad, @length),1,@length - LEN(@string));
END
GO