PAD_LEFT

Description

PAD_LEFT pads a string on the left side with a fill character until it reaches the given width. If the string is already at or longer than the specified width, it is returned unchanged. The fill character defaults to a space if not provided.

Syntax

PAD_LEFT(string, width, fill_char?)

Returns: A string padded on the left to the specified width.

Example

PAD_LEFT('42', 5)

This returns ' 42' — three spaces are added on the left to reach a total length of 5.

Example with custom fill character

PAD_LEFT('42', 5, '0')

This returns '00042'.