REVERSE (Transact-SQL)
Applies to:
SQL Server
Azure SQL Database
Azure SQL Managed Instance
Azure Synapse Analytics
Analytics Platform System (PDW)
SQL Endpoint in Microsoft Fabric
Warehouse in Microsoft Fabric
Returns the reverse order of a string value.
Transact-SQL syntax conventions
Syntax
REVERSE ( string_expression )
Note
To view Transact-SQL syntax for SQL Server 2014 and earlier, see Previous versions documentation.
Arguments
string_expression
string_expression is an expression of a string or binary data type. string_expression can be a constant, variable, or column of either character or binary data.
Return Types
varchar or nvarchar
Remarks
string_expression must be of a data type that is implicitly convertible to varchar. Otherwise, use CAST to explicitly convert string_expression.
Supplementary Characters (Surrogate Pairs)
When using SC collations, the REVERSE function will not reverse the order of two halves of a surrogate pair.
Examples
The following example returns all contact first names with the characters reversed. This example uses the AdventureWorks2022
database.
SELECT FirstName, REVERSE(FirstName) AS Reverse
FROM Person.Person
WHERE BusinessEntityID < 5
ORDER BY FirstName;
GO
Here is the result set.
FirstName Reverse
-------------- --------------
Ken neK
Rob boR
Roberto otreboR
Terri irreT
(4 row(s) affected)
The following example reverses the characters in a variable.
DECLARE @myvar VARCHAR(10);
SET @myvar = 'sdrawkcaB';
SELECT REVERSE(@myvar) AS Reversed ;
GO
The following example makes an implicit conversion from an int data type into varchar data type and then reverses the result.
SELECT REVERSE(1234) AS Reversed ;
GO
Examples: Azure Synapse Analytics and Analytics Platform System (PDW)
The following example returns names of all databases, and the names with the characters reversed.
SELECT name, REVERSE(name) FROM sys.databases;
GO
See Also
CONCAT (Transact-SQL)
CONCAT_WS (Transact-SQL)
FORMATMESSAGE (Transact-SQL)
QUOTENAME (Transact-SQL)
REPLACE (Transact-SQL)
STRING_AGG (Transact-SQL)
STRING_ESCAPE (Transact-SQL)
STUFF (Transact-SQL)
TRANSLATE (Transact-SQL)
CAST and CONVERT (Transact-SQL)
Data Types (Transact-SQL)
String Functions (Transact-SQL)