## Syntax
```mermaid
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'themeVariables': {
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flowchart LR
Start((START)) --> REPLACE[REPLACE]:::quoted
REPLACE --> End((END))
```
## Purpose
The `REPLACE` SQL function changes a given text by replacing all occurrences from an ordered list of texts by their associated replacement texts.
See also [[TRANSLATE]] and [[REGEXP_REPLACE]].
Parameters:
- Input (`varchar2`): the text to change.
- Old text 1 (`varchar2`): the text to be replaced.
- New text 1 (`varchar2`): the replacement text.
- Old text n (optional, `varchar2`): additional texts to be replaced.
- New text n (optional, `varchar2`): additional replacement texts.
Returns: A text with all old texts replaced by their new text in the order they occur in the list.
## Examples
The following example replaces `b` by `z` in `abc`:
```sql
select replace('abc', 'b', 'z')
-------------------
azc
```
The following example removes `b` from `abc` by replacing it with an empty text, and replaces `c` by `d`:
```sql
select replace('abc', 'b', '', 'c', 'd')
-------------------
ad
```
The following example leaves the input unchanged since the old text is `null`:
```sql
select replace('abcd', null, 'z')
-------------------
abcd
```