The STUFF function inserts a string into another string. It deletes a specified length of characters in the first string at the start position and then inserts the second string into the first string at the start position.
Syntax:
STUFF ( character_expression , start , length , replaceWith_expression )
Arguments:
character_expression
Is an expression of character data. character_expression can be a constant, variable, or column of either character or binary data.
start
Is an integer value that specifies the location to start deletion and insertion. If start or length is negative, a null string is returned. If start is longer than the first character_expression, a null string is returned. start can be of type bigint.
length
Is an integer that specifies the number of characters to delete. If length is longer than the first character_expression, deletion occurs up to the last character in the last character_expression. length can be of type bigint.
replaceWith_expression
Is an expression of character data. character_expression can be a constant, variable, or column of either character or binary data. This expression will replace length characters of character_expression beginning at start.
Example:
SELECT STUFF(‘abcdef’, 2, 3, ‘ijklmn’)
Output:
aijklmnef
