In MariaDB, STRCMP() is a built-in string function that compares two strings. It returns 0, -1, or 1, depending on whether the strings are the same or not.
Here are the possible results and what they mean:
0 | The strings are the same. |
-1 | The first argument is smaller than the second according to the current sort order. |
1 | The first argument is larger than the second according to the current sort order |
Syntax
The syntax goes like this:
STRCMP(expr1,expr2)Where expr1 is the first string, and expr2 is the second string.
Example
Here’s a basic example:
SELECT
STRCMP('abc', 'abc') AS "1",
STRCMP('abc', 'def') AS "2",
STRCMP('def', 'abc') AS "3";Result:
+---+----+---+ | 1 | 2 | 3 | +---+----+---+ | 0 | -1 | 1 | +---+----+---+
This example demonstrates each possible outcome that STRCMP() can produce.
Here’s another example:
SELECT
STRCMP('Cat', 'Cattery') AS "1",
STRCMP('Dog', 'dog') AS "2",
STRCMP('Cow 07', 'Cow 007') AS "3";Result:
+----+---+---+ | 1 | 2 | 3 | +----+---+---+ | -1 | 0 | 1 | +----+---+---+
Empty Strings vs Spaces
Comparing an empty string to a space results in 0:
SELECT
STRCMP(' ', ''),
STRCMP('', ' ');Result:
+-----------------+-----------------+
| STRCMP(' ', '') | STRCMP('', ' ') |
+-----------------+-----------------+
| 0 | 0 |
+-----------------+-----------------+
Null Arguments
Passing null for any argument (or all arguments) returns null:
SELECT
STRCMP(null, 'abc'),
STRCMP('abc', null),
STRCMP(null, null);Result:
+---------------------+---------------------+--------------------+
| STRCMP(null, 'abc') | STRCMP('abc', null) | STRCMP(null, null) |
+---------------------+---------------------+--------------------+
| NULL | NULL | NULL |
+---------------------+---------------------+--------------------+
Missing Argument
Calling STRCMP() with the wrong number of arguments, or without passing any arguments results in an error:
SELECT STRCMP();Result:
ERROR 1582 (42000): Incorrect parameter count in the call to native function 'STRCMP'