The OracleCHR()
function converts an ASCII code, which is a number, to a character. The Oracle CHR()
function is the opposite of the ASCII()
function.
Syntax #
CHR(numeric_expression)
Code language: SQL (Structured Query Language) (sql)
Arguments #
The CHR()
function accepts one argument:
- numeric_expression is a numeric value or an expression that returns a number.
Return values #
- If the
numeric_expression
is from 0 through 255, theCHR()
function returns a character that represents the number in the ASCII table. - If the
numeric_expression
is less than 0, theCHR()
function will issue an error. - If n is greater than
256
, the function returns the binary equivalent ofn mod 256
. - The
CHR()
function returnsNULL
if thenumeric_expresion
isNULL
.
Examples #
The following statement returns characters of the ASCII code 83
and 115
:
SELECT
CHR( 83 ),
CHR( 115 )
FROM
dual;
Code language: SQL (Structured Query Language) (sql)

The following statement uses the the CHR()
function with NULL
:
SELECT
CHR( NULL )
FROM
DUAL;
Code language: SQL (Structured Query Language) (sql)

In this example, the CHR()
function returns NULL
as expected.
Remarks #
You can use the CHR()
function to insert control characters into a string. The following table illustrates the commonly used control characters:
Control character | Value |
---|---|
Carriage return | CHR(13) |
Line feed | CHR(10) |
Tab | CHR(9) |
Let’s see the following employees
table in the sample database:

The following statement uses the CHR()
function to output the first five employees of the company:
SELECT
first_name || ' ' || last_name ||
CHR( 9 ) || ' joined on ' || CHR( 9 ) ||
to_char(hire_date,'DD-MON-YYYY') first_5_employees
FROM
employees
ORDER BY
hire_date
FETCH
FIRST 5 ROWS ONLY;
Code language: SQL (Structured Query Language) (sql)
Output:
FIRST_5_EMPLOYEES
----------------------------------------------
Louie Richardson joined on 03-JAN-2016
Elizabeth Dixon joined on 04-JAN-2016
Ella Wallace joined on 05-JAN-2016
Blake Cooper joined on 13-JAN-2016
Thea Hawkins joined on 13-JAN-2016
Code language: SQL (Structured Query Language) (sql)
Summary #
- Use the Oracle
CHR()
function to get the corresponding character of an ASCII code.