SPACE (Transact-SQL)

Applies to: 👁 Image
SQL Server 👁 Image
Azure SQL Database 👁 Image
Azure SQL Managed Instance 👁 Image
Azure Synapse Analytics 👁 Image
Analytics Platform System (PDW) 👁 Image
SQL analytics endpoint in Microsoft Fabric 👁 Image
Warehouse in Microsoft Fabric 👁 Image
SQL database in Microsoft Fabric

Returns a string of repeated spaces.

👁 Image
Transact-SQL syntax conventions

Syntax

SPACE ( integer_expression ) 

Arguments

integer_expression
Is a positive integer that indicates the number of spaces. If integer_expression is negative, a null string is returned.

For more information, see Expressions (Transact-SQL)

Return Types

varchar

Remarks

To include spaces in Unicode data, or to return more than 8000 character spaces, use REPLICATE instead of SPACE.

Examples

The following example trims the last names and concatenates a comma, two spaces, and the first names of people listed in the Person table in AdventureWorks2025.

USE AdventureWorks2022; 
GO 
SELECT RTRIM(LastName) + ',' + SPACE(2) + LTRIM(FirstName) 
FROM Person.Person 
ORDER BY LastName, FirstName; 
GO 

Examples: Azure Synapse Analytics and Analytics Platform System (PDW)

The following example trims the last names and concatenates a comma, two spaces, and the first names of people listed in the DimCustomer table in AdventureWorksPDW2012.

-- Uses AdventureWorks 
 
SELECT RTRIM(LastName) + ',' + SPACE(2) + LTRIM(FirstName) 
FROM dbo.DimCustomer 
ORDER BY LastName, FirstName; 
GO 

See Also

REPLICATE (Transact-SQL)

Built-in Functions (Transact-SQL)