SUBSTRING_INDEX() function in MySQL — with examples.

I recently used the MySQL SUBSTRING_INDEX(), function for a requirement in a PHP/MySQL reporting dashboard I am developing, and thought to write about SUBSTRING_INDEX() general usage. Although this post has arbitrary examples, I’m sure you can find a use for this function in specific cases. Continue reading and see basic queries including SUBSTRING_INDEX in the SELECT clause…

Photo by Denny Müller on Unsplash

OS, Software, and DB used:

• OpenSuse Leap 15.1
• MySQL 8.0.19

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SUBSTRING_INDEX() accepts 3 arguments:

1. A string to search.
2. A delimiter to search on.
3. A number of occurrences of the specified delimiter. In other words, which occurrence of the delimiter to split on should multiple be present in the string to search.

I will use a simple table, ‘file_names’ for the examples throughout the post:

MySQL localhost:33060+ ssl learning SQL > DESC file_names;
+ — — — — — — -+ — — — + — — — + — — -+ — — — — -+…