string-operators-transact-sql.md

title	String operators (Transact-SQL)
description	String operators (Transact-SQL)
author	rwestMSFT
ms.author	randolphwest
ms.reviewer	jopilov
ms.date	06/06/2023
ms.service	sql
ms.subservice	t-sql
ms.topic	reference
ms.custom	ignite-2025
helpviewer_keywords	operators [Transact-SQL], string concatenation plus sign (+) string concatenation operators + (string concatenation)
dev_langs	TSQL
monikerRange	>=aps-pdw-2016 || =azuresqldb-current || =azure-sqldw-latest || >=sql-server-2016 || >=sql-server-linux-2017 || =azuresqldb-mi-current || =fabric || =fabric-sqldb

String operators (Transact-SQL)

[!INCLUDE sql-asdb-asdbmi-asa-pdw-fabricse-fabricdw-fabricsqldb]

[!INCLUDEssNoVersion] provides the following string operators. String concatenation operators can combine two or more of the following data types into one expression:

• character or binary strings
• columns
• combination of strings and column names

Wildcard string operators can match one or more characters in a string comparison operation. LIKE and PATINDEX are examples of two of these operations.

In this section

• = (String comparison or assignment)
• + (String concatenation)
• += (String concatenation assignment)
• % (Wildcard - character(s) to match)
• [ ] (Wildcard - character(s) to match)
• [^] (Wildcard - character(s) not to match)
• _ (Wildcard - match one character)