It cannot do that type of calculation. It can only do simple math, add, subtract, divide.

The correct syntax for a Providex backend would be: Select {fn LEN(ARDivisionNo)} from AR_Division . I don't know if SQL syntax works in Alerts. See BL's response  

Can I ask why you need to know the length of a field in a Sage Alert since this information is available in the file layouts

This is an alert that alerts if a serial number in the system is less than 14 characters.

I got it to work using this formula: LEN("AP_OpenInvoice"."APDivisionNo") 

I was just using AP division # as an example.

Thanks for everyone's input and help.