HOW TO: Use Snowflake CONCAT to

Combine Strings (2024)

Snowflake offers a variety of string functions to work with string data. Among the
top Snowflake string functions , Snowflake CONCAT is one of them, which helps to join
two or more strings together to form a new string.

In this article, we will cover everything you need to know about the Snowflake CONCAT
function. We’ll cover syntax, data type handling, real-world examples, performance
implications, limitations—so and more!!

What is Snowflake CONCAT Function?

Snowflake CONCAT function concatenates two or more string values together into a single
string output. The syntax allows passing multiple string arguments, merging them end-to-
end in the specified order.

For use cases like adding string/text together from different columns, formatting outlier
values, or building customized strings for display/report purposes, Snowflake concat enables
this directly in SQL without complex/manual string or regex operations.
How does Snowflake CONCAT function Work?

Snowflake CONCAT function accepts an unspecified number of string arguments as inputs.

The syntax is very straightforward:

CONCAT(<expr1>, <expr2>,...)

Where each <expr> can be any string literal or expression that evaluates to a string.

Some examples:

Example 1:

SELECT CONCAT('Hi', 'there');

The output:

Joining two strings using Snowflake CONCAT

function
Example 2:

CONCAT(FIRST_NAME, ' ', LAST_NAME)

Would concatenate the content of two text columns with a space between.

As you can see, we simply specify comma-separated strings as arguments, and the result
combines them in the same order.
 We will cover the examples in detail in the later section.

Data type supported by Snowflake CONCAT function

A key aspect of concat is its support for string data types. It can accept and concatenate all
Snowflake string variants:

 STRING
 VARCHAR
 CHAR
 TEXT
The return type is always STRING, regardless of input types. Literal strings get coerced to
STRING as well.

One catch is numeric or non-string types are not directly compatible. We could explicitly
cast them using TO_VARCHAR to enable concatenation.

How does Snowflake CONCAT handle null values?

One of the most important considerations with Snowflake concat is the handling of NULL
values. Concatenating a null string with another non-null string results in a NULL output.

Let’s test it out:

CONCAT(NULL, 'Text')
 Concatenating a null string with another non-null
string
You can see that, this can lead to unintended nulls in output if not properly handled.
Strategies like COALESCE can be used to replace nulls with an alternative value first.

Practical Examples and Use Cases of Snowflake CONCAT

Function

To better understand real-world usage, let’s walk through some applied examples of
leveraging Snowflake’s concat function.

Example 1—Basic String Concatenation

The simplest usage is combining literal string values, like creating a full name:

SELECT CONCAT('Chaos', ' ', 'Genius')

Basic String Concatenation using

Snowflake concat
As you can see, this shows concatenating three strings with spaces between to build a single
string.
Example 2—Concatenating Table Columns

Typically, concat is used to combine column values from a table. One common example is
generating full names:

CREATE TABLE customers (

first_name VARCHAR,

last_name VARCHAR

);

INSERT INTO customers

(first_name, last_name)

VALUES

('Chaos', 'Genius'),

('Preeti', 'Shrimal'),

('Genius', 'Chaos');

SELECT CONCAT(first_name, ' ', last_name) AS full_name

FROM customers;
 Generating full names
using Snowflake CONCAT function
So you can see that by concatenating two string columns with a space between, we can
conveniently create a full name string without complex/manual string operations.

Example 3—Concatenating Strings and Non-String Data

Types

While Snowflake concat expects string inputs, we can craft explicit casts to allow numeric
or other data types:

CREATE TABLE products (

id NUMBER,

product_name VARCHAR

);
INSERT INTO products

(id, product_name)

VALUES

(1, 'Apples'),

(2, 'Oranges'),

(3, 'Bananas');

SELECT CONCAT('ID: ', TO_VARCHAR(id)) AS id_str

FROM products;

Concatenating Strings and Non-

String Data Types using Snowflake CONCAT
Here we cast the numeric ID column using TO_VARCHAR to become string-compatible
before concatenating using Snowflake concat function.
Example 4—Nested String Concatenations

With Snowflake concat supporting an unspecified number of arguments, we can also nest
concats to build complex strings:

CREATE TABLE mytable (

col1 VARCHAR,

col2 VARCHAR

);

INSERT INTO mytable

(col1, col2)

VALUES

('foo', 'bar'),

('apple', 'banana');

SELECT

CONCAT('Start_',

CONCAT(col1, '_'),

col2) AS nested_concat

FROM mytable;
 Nested String Concatenations using Snowflake
CONCAT
As you can see, by nesting Snwoflake concat functions, we concat COL1 and COL2 values
while also prefixing and suffixing additional strings.

When to Use Snowflake CONCAT Function?

Here are a few key use cases that can help clarify appropriate applications for Snowflake
concat function:

 Combining text columns with string literals like IDs, names, or messages
 Appending or prefixing strings for data transformations
 Cleansing text strings into proper formats
 Custom building string outputs for display purposes
What we want to avoid is overusing Snowflake concat where simpler string operators
like || would suffice. Evaluating each expression has a small cost, so for basic use cases
concat may be overkill.

What is the difference between Concat_ws and Concat

Snowflake?
An important alternative to understand is CONCAT_WS which stands for Concatenate
With Separator. The _ws version allows explicitly defining a separator string between the
concatenated values.

For a simple example:

SELECT CONCAT_WS('-', 'one', 'two', 'three')

Basic example of using Snowflake

CONCAT_WS function
With Snowflake concat, the values just directly combine without any separators.

So Snowflake Concat_ws addresses use cases where a separator is needed when combining
string values end-to-end.

Here is a comparison of the key differences between Snowflake

CONCAT_WS and Snowflake CONCAT function:

Snowflake CONCAT Snowflake CONCAT_WS

No separator, just sequentially Allows specifying a custom separator string to insert between
appends strings concatenated values

Can accept a single argument Requires at least 2 arguments - 1st is the separator

Returns NULL if any input is Returns NULL if any input is NULL

NULL
Retains input data types like STRING, BINARY
Always returns STRING data type
Handles collations, returns highest precedent collation of
 Strings only, no collation handling
inputs

Use case is appending strings

Use case is joining multiple columns with separator between
sequentially

Limitations of Snowflake CONCAT Function

Snowflake concat is fully optimized and widely used but there are some limitations worth
keeping in mind:

 Performance can degrade with high numbers of very large strings

 Lack of options for string formatting or more advanced formatting
 Separator specification requires using Concat_ws version
 Not compatible with non-string data types without explicit casting
Always be very careful not to abuse Snowflake concat where simpler approaches would
work fine. Evaluate if large strings can be pre-processed before hitting Snowflake as well.

Conclusion

And that’s a wrap! Concatenating strings is a super common task when wrangling text data.
As more and more unstructured data piles up in Snowflake, the ability to smoothly combine
text fields, columns—and literals can be a lifesaver! Luckily, Snowflake concat function
makes string concatenation easy. No fussing with complex syntax or manual regex
operations. Just list out the values you want smashed together, separated by commas.
Snowflake handles the heavy lifting behind the scenes.

In this article, we covered:

 What is Snowflake CONCAT Function?

 How does Snowflake CONCAT function Work?
 Data type supported by Snowflake CONCAT
 How does Snowflake CONCAT handle null values?
 Practical Examples and Use Cases of Snowflake CONCAT Function
 When to Use Snowflake CONCAT Function?
 What is the difference between Concat_ws and Snowflake Concat?
 Limitations of Snowflake CONCAT Function
Snowflake concat makes string wrangling so much smoother. Just be careful with nulls,
watch for performance hiccups—and always make use of concat_ws when you need those
separators.

FAQs

What is the Snowflake CONCAT function?

Snowflake CONCAT function joins two or more string values together into a single string
output. It merges multiple text arguments sequentially in the order specified.

How does Snowflake CONCAT function work?

Snowflake CONCAT function works by accepting multiple string literals or expressions

separated by commas. It concatenates them together in the same order to output a single
combined string.

What are the data types supported by Snowflake CONCAT?

Snowflake CONCAT supports concatenating all Snowflake string data types — STRING,
VARCHAR, CHAR, and TEXT. The return type is always STRING.

Does Snowflake CONCAT work with non-string data types?

No, Snowflake CONCAT does not directly support non-string types. Numeric and other
types must be explicitly cast using TO_VARCHAR() to make them compatible.

How does CONCAT handle NULL values in Snowflake?

Concatenating a NULL value with non-NULL strings results in a NULL
output. COALESCE can be used to replace NULLs before using Snowflake CONCAT.

What is the difference between CONCAT and CONCAT_WS in Snowflake?

Snowflake CONCAT_WS allows specifying a custom separator, while Snowflake CONCAT

just sequentially concatenates without separators.

Does Snowflake CONCAT function concat after the last argument?

No, CONCAT does not put separators after the last concatenated argument.

How do you concatenate two columns in Snowflake SQL?

You can make use of Snowflake CONCAT(column1, ' ', column2) to join two columns with
a space between each value into a single string.

How do I concatenate a string and a number in Snowflake?

Cast the number to a string using TO_VARCHAR() before concatenating with Snowflake
CONCAT function..

Is CONCAT faster than || operator in Snowflake?

No, Snowflake CONCAT has a higher invocation cost compared to || for basic
concatenation. Use || operator unless you specifically need CONCAT's functionality.

Can I nest CONCAT functions in Snowflake?

Yes, Snowflake allows arbitrarily nesting Snowflake CONCAT functions to achieve

complex string-building logic.

Does CONCAT have formatting options in Snowflake?

No, CONCAT does not offer advanced formatting of the output string beyond basic
concatenation. Use other functions for formatting.
What are the limitations of the Snowflake CONCAT function?

Performance issues with massive strings, lack of advanced formatting—and no separator

support without using CONCAT_WS.