Oracle RPAD() Function

Oracle RPAD() is a built-in function that pads a given string with a given character sequence on the right side to reach a specified length.

If you need to left-pad a string, use LPAD().

Oracle RPAD() Syntax

Here is the syntax for the Oracle RPAD() function:

RPAD(str, len [, padstr ])

Parameters

str

Required. The string to be padded. It can be of type CHAR, VARCHAR2, NCHAR, NVARCHAR2, CLOB, or NCLOB.

len

Required. The length the padded string needs to reach. It must be a NUMBER integer or a value that can be implicitly converted to a NUMBER integer.

padstr

Optional. The string to be padded to the right of the original string. The default value is a space.

Return Value

The Oracle RPAD() function returns a string that is padded to the right of the original string with the given character sequence to the specified length.

The return value of RPAD() has the same data type and character set as the str parameter.

If len is less than the length of the original string str, RPAD() returns a portion of the string that is len characters long.

If any of the parameters are NULL, RPAD() returns NULL.

Oracle RPAD() Examples

Here are some examples that demonstrate the usage of the Oracle RPAD() function.

Basic Usage

SELECT
    RPAD('Hello', 10) Result1,
    RPAD('Hello', 10, '_') Result2
FROM dual;

Output:

RESULT1       RESULT2
_____________ _____________
Hello         Hello_____

Padding with a Character Sequence

The Oracle RPAD() function allows you to pad a string with a specified character sequence:

SELECT
    RPAD('Hello', 10, 'xyz') Result
FROM dual;

Output:

RESULT
_____________
Helloxyzxy

NULL Parameters

If any of the parameters are NULL, the function returns NULL.

SET NULL 'NULL';
SELECT
    RPAD(NULL, 10) Result1,
    RPAD('A', NULL) Result2,
    RPAD('A', 10, NULL) Result3,
    RPAD(NULL, NULL, NULL) Result4
FROM dual;

Output:

RESULT1    RESULT2    RESULT3    RESULT4
__________ __________ __________ __________
NULL       NULL       NULL       NULL

In this example, we use the statement SET NULL 'NULL'; to display NULL values as the string 'NULL'.

Conclusion

Oracle RPAD() is a built-in function that pads a given string with a given character sequence on the right side to reach a specified length.