MySQL Select a range of letters

Question

How to remove the letters between the first two letters and the last two letters? Is it something like a combination of LIKE and =<> ?

Table Name: Items_ordered

OrderDate      Item
------------------------
2015-07-01     Skateboard
2015-07-01     Life Vest
2015 -07-06    Parachute
2015-07-27     Umbrella

Sample Output:

OrderDate      Item
--------------------
2015-07-01     Skrd
2015-07-01     List
2015-07-06    Pate
2015-07-27     Umla

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JohnHC · Answer 1 · 2017-07-28T13:06:37.347

1

Use left() and right()

select OrderDate, concat(left(Item,2), right(Item,2) )as NewItem
from Items_ordered

However, what happens with an item like 'Bag', with less than 4 letters?

edited Jul 28 '17 at 13:06

answered Jul 28 '17 at 12:55

JohnHC

Please don't post answers on obviously off-topic questions! See: **[Should one advise on off topic questions?](//meta.stackoverflow.com/q/276572/1768232)** Off-topic questions can be closed and deleted, which could nullify your contribution. – John Conde Jul 28 '17 at 12:56
@JohnConde I disagree that this is not MCVE. OP has explained table structure and desired output and has shown some level of what they tried – JohnHC Jul 28 '17 at 12:59
Where do they show what they've tried? There literally is no SQL in their question nor do they describe what they tried. – John Conde Jul 28 '17 at 13:17

1 Answers1