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Asked: 2026-05-19T22:44:41+00:00

Brief Description of the app: I have written a Delphi application that allows a

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Brief Description of the app:
I have written a Delphi application that allows a user to run a query over either a MySQL database, or a DB2 database. The application uses a TADOQuery component to run the query.

The application uses a simple interface to build the query string, allowing users with no knowledge of SQL to build queries. At no point does the user see any SQL – everything is in plain English so that even non-technical users can understand what they are doing.

The applicatione examines the parameters that the user entered using the query building interface and builds the SQL statement in the background, submitting it without the user actually seeing the SQL itself.

Problem:
Some of the queries use substrings to retrieve data from within certain fields. When I use the SUBSTR statement, I’m not adding spaces after the commas within the SUBSTR statement. For example, SUBSTR(field,1,10).

This is fine most of the time, but when the locale on the PC is set to a different locale from English (e.g. Dutch, changed via the Regional Settings applet in the Windows Control Panel), the SUBSTR statement in this form fails when running over a DB2 database (it seems fine over MySQL).

In order to get the SUBSTR to execute properly in that particular locale, I need to add spaces after the commas. For example, SUBSTR(field, 1, 10).

Searching for the correct syntax for the SUBSTR statement shows examples both with and without commas, although obviously I’ve found problems when I’ve not included commas, so I’d be inclined to go with the version with spaces. However, what I want to know is whether or not this is the definitive syntax, whether or not I’ll get any problems using SUBSTR in this way, and as a bonus, why I get the error when I don’t use spaces after the commas in the first place.

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1 Answer

  1. Editorial Team

    The proper way is with or without space. Spaces are optional and not parsed, you can even have 10 spaces after comma and 3 before if you like (just arbitrary numbers).

    The reason why SUBSTR(field,1,10) doesn’t work in some locales is because of the part I highlighted. In European countries, the decimal sign is comma, not period. By putting a space and making it SUBSTR(field, 1, 10), the 1, 10 is very clearly split into two parameters so there is no longer any confusion.

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