To determine the length of the variable @c, we need to understand how the LEN() function works in SQL.
In SQL, the LEN() function is used to return the number of characters in a string. It counts the number of characters, including spaces and special characters.
In the given code snippet, the variable @c is declared as a varchar(8000). This means it can hold a maximum of 8000 characters.
The code then sets the value of @c to N'hello' + replicate('-',8000). Here, replicate('-',8000) is used to repeat the dash symbol "-" 8000 times. The resulting string is concatenated with the string "hello".
Since the LEN() function counts the number of characters in a string, it will count all the characters in @c, including the "hello" string and the repeated dashes.
Therefore, the length of @c will be the sum of the length of "hello" (5 characters) and the length of the repeated dashes (8000 characters).
So the correct answer is:
B. 4000