REVERSE (Transact-SQL)
Applies to:
SQL Server
Azure SQL Database
Azure SQL Managed Instance
Azure Synapse Analytics
Analytics Platform System (PDW)
SQL analytics 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 (12.x) and earlier versions, 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)