> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://www.integrate.io/docs/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# ETL: SUBSTRING

> Extract a portion of a string field by specifying start position and optional length. Use SUBSTRING for text parsing in ETL pipeline expressions.

## Description

Returns part of a string field.

## Syntax

`SUBSTRING(string, start_index, stop_index)`

## Arguments

*string* - string expression

*start\_index* - integer indicating start of the substring.

*stop\_index* - integer indicating the index of the character following the last character of the substring.

## Examples

`SUBSTRING('California',4,7)` returns 'for'.

## Return value datatype

String

## Impact of null value

If any (or all) inputs are null, returns null.