Is this what you're looking for? vString := 'instance.company.com'; vInstance := Substr(vString,1,instr(vString,'.')-1) On 5/17/07 12:22 PM, Shivaswamy Raghunath wrote: > Hello. > > I need to get "instance" from ('instance.company.com') on SQLPLUS. How I can > do this? > > I tried to use REGEXP_SUBSTR function, but could not make much headway. Please > note that, the LENGTH(instance) may vary. > > So I guess, give me before first occurence of period(.) in the string is what > I should ask to get. > > TIA, > Shiva --------------- Jason Heinrich Oracle Database Administrator Pensacola Christian College -- //www.freelists.org/webpage/oracle-l