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248. LOCATE Function

Learn how to locate a substring within a string using LOCATE where supported.

📘 Lesson 248 of 728 ⏱ 9 min 🎯 Intermediate

The LOCATE function returns the position of a substring within another string in database systems that provide this function.

LOCATE helps identify where specific text appears and can be used as part of larger string-processing operations.

Find the location of a domain separator inside an email address.

SQL 
SELECT
    Email,
    LOCATE('@', Email) AS AtPosition
FROM Customers;

LOCATE is useful for parsing emails, product codes, account references, and imported text data.

  • LOCATE finds a substring position.
  • It is useful for text parsing.
  • It can support extraction logic.
  • Syntax varies between databases.
  • It can be combined with string functions.
What does LOCATE do?

LOCATE finds the position of a substring inside another string.

Where is LOCATE useful?

It is useful for parsing structured text such as emails, codes, and identifiers.

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