The SUBSTRING() function is used to extract a character string from a given starting position for a given length.
SELECT TOP 100 SUBSTRING(course_designater,6,3) as 'Course number' FROM Courses WHERE course_designater LIKE 'Excel%'
It is possible to use the SQL Server LOWER() and UPPER() functions in conjunction with the SUBSTRING() function to accomplish different types of formatting.
SELECT TOP 10 UPPER(SUBSTRING (lastname,1,1)) + LOWER(SUBSTRING(lastname,2,29)) AS 'Lastname' FROM Students
