I don't get the same result!!DECLARE @MyString1 varchar(100), @MyString2 varchar(100)SELECT @MyString1 = 'a|b|c|d||||||| |', @MyString2 = 'a|b|c|d||||||| |'SELECT len(@MyString1),len(replace(@MyString1,'|','')),@MyString1SELECT DATALENGTH(@MyString1),DATALENGTH(replace(@MyString1,'|','')),@MyString1SELECT len(@MyString2),len(replace(@MyString2,'|','')),@MyString2SELECT DATALENGTH(@MyString2),DATALENGTH(replace(@MyString2,'|','')),@MyString2----------- ----------- -------------------19 4 a|b|c|d||||||| |----------- ----------- -------------------19 8 a|b|c|d||||||| |----------- ----------- ---------------------------27 4 a|b|c|d||||||| |----------- ----------- ---------------------------27 16 a|b|c|d||||||| |