# Split a column at character positions

Shape / columns

A variant of [Split a column](https://meridian.online/operations/split-a-column).

Split or cut a text column at fixed widths or given character positions.

Page: <https://meridian.online/operations/split-a-column/split-at-character-positions>

## Status

Runs as a SQL step.

arcform carries it as a `sql:` step today.

## The DuckDB step

cut a column at character positions

It reads the `orders` table the proofs share. Create it first:

```sql
CREATE TABLE orders AS SELECT * FROM (VALUES
  (1,  'Alice Ng',      'north', DATE '2026-01-03', 120.00, 'widget', 'a|b',   '{"channel":"web","items":[1,2]}'),
  (2,  'alice ng',      'north', DATE '2026-01-05',  80.50, 'gadget', 'b',     '{"channel":"shop","items":[3]}'),
  (3,  'Bob  Okafor',   'south', DATE '2026-01-05', 300.00, 'widget', 'a|c',   '{"channel":"web","items":[4,5,6]}'),
  (4,  'Carla Díaz',    'east',  DATE '2026-01-09',  NULL,  'gizmo',  NULL,    '{"channel":"web","items":[]}'),
  (5,  'Bob Okafor',    'south', DATE '2026-01-12',  45.25, 'gadget', 'c',     '{"channel":"phone","items":[7]}'),
  (6,  'Dev Patel',     'west',  DATE '2026-01-12', 510.00, 'widget', 'a',     '{"channel":"web","items":[8,9]}'),
  (7,  'Carla Diaz',    'east',  DATE '2026-01-20',  99.99, 'gizmo',  'b|c',   '{"channel":"shop","items":[10]}'),
  (8,  'Dev Patel',     'west',  DATE '2026-02-02', 510.00, 'widget', 'a',     '{"channel":"web","items":[8,9]}'),
  (9,  'Eve Larsen',    NULL,    DATE '2026-02-03',  15.00, 'gadget', NULL,    '{"channel":"web","items":[11]}'),
  (10, 'Alice Ng',      'north', DATE '2026-02-10', 220.00, 'gizmo',  'a|b|c', '{"channel":"phone","items":[12,13]}')
) t(order_id, customer, region, order_date, amount, product, tags, meta);
```

Then run the statement:

```sql
CREATE TEMP TABLE result AS
SELECT order_id, substr(order_date::VARCHAR, 1, 4) AS year, substr(order_date::VARCHAR, 6, 2) AS month, substr(order_date::VARCHAR, 9, 2) AS day FROM orders;
SELECT * FROM result;
SELECT CASE WHEN ((SELECT [year, month, day] FROM result WHERE order_id = 10) = ['2026', '02', '10'] AND (SELECT [year, month, day] FROM result WHERE order_id = 1) = ['2026', '01', '03'] AND (SELECT count(DISTINCT month) FROM result) = 2) THEN 'as expected' ELSE error('the date text was not cut into year 2026, month and day at positions 1, 6 and 9') END AS verdict;
```

It needs nothing installed beyond DuckDB itself.

## What other tools call it

Meridian's classification; an independent blind rating agreed on 95.7% of 324 rows (variant, version 3).

- EasyMorph: [`Split fixed width text`](https://help.easymorph.com/doku.php?id=transformations:splitfixedwidthtext) (read 2026-09-27)
- Apache Hop: [`String cut`](https://hop.apache.org/manual/latest/pipeline/transforms/stringcut.html) (read 2026-09-27)
- KNIME Analytics Platform: [`Cell Splitter By Position`](https://api.hub.knime.com/nodes/*m1bkjcKm-b81Pkl6?details=full) (read 2026-09-27)
- Pentaho Data Integration: [`Strings cut`](https://docs.pentaho.com/pdia-data-integration/9.3-data-integration/pdi-transformation-steps-reference-overview) (read 2026-09-27)
- Talend: [`tExtractPositionalFields`](https://help.qlik.com/talend/en-US/components/8.0/processing/processing-component) (read 2026-09-27)
- Trifacta: [`Extract between positions`](https://help.alteryx.com/aac/en/trifacta-classic/reference/transformation-reference.html) (read 2026-09-27)
- Trifacta: [`Extract first`](https://help.alteryx.com/aac/en/trifacta-classic/reference/transformation-reference.html) (read 2026-09-27)
- Trifacta: [`Extract last`](https://help.alteryx.com/aac/en/trifacta-classic/reference/transformation-reference.html) (read 2026-09-27)
- Trifacta: [`Split at interval`](https://help.alteryx.com/aac/en/trifacta-classic/reference/transformation-reference.html) (read 2026-09-27)
- Trifacta: [`Split at positions`](https://help.alteryx.com/aac/en/trifacta-classic/reference/transformation-reference.html) (read 2026-09-27)
- Trifacta: [`Split between positions`](https://help.alteryx.com/aac/en/trifacta-classic/reference/transformation-reference.html) (read 2026-09-27)