This function is used to return the position of substr in str. You can specify the starting position of your search using "start_pos," which starts from 1.

Syntax

locate(string <substr>, string <str>[, bigint <start_pos>])

Parameters

**Table 1** Parameters
Parameter	Mandatory	Type	Description
str	Yes	STRING	Target string to be searched for If the value is of the BIGINT, DOUBLE, DECIMAL, or DATETIME type, the value is implicitly converted to the STRING type for calculation. For other types of values, an error is reported.
substr	Yes	STRING	Substring to be matched If the value is of the BIGINT, DOUBLE, DECIMAL, or DATETIME type, the value is implicitly converted to the STRING type for calculation. For other types of values, an error is reported.
start_pos	No	BIGINT	Start position for the search

Return Values

The return value is of the BIGINT type.

If substr cannot be matched in str, 0 is returned.
If the value of str or substr is NULL, NULL is returned.
If the value of start_pos is NULL, 0 is returned.

Example Code

Search for the position of string ab in string abhiab. An example command is as follows:
The value 1 is returned.
```
select locate('ab', 'abhiab');
```
The value 5 is returned.
```
select locate('ab', 'abhiab', 2);
```
The value 0 is returned.
```
select locate('ab', 'abhiab', null);
```
Search for the position of string hi in string hanmeimei and lilei. An example command is as follows:
The value 0 is returned.
```
select locate('hi', 'hanmeimei and lilei');
```