Prefix a string with a specified character to pad it to a desired length in Sql Server

Source Code

CREATE FUNCTION dbo.f_pad_before(@string VARCHAR(255), @desired_length INTEGER, @pad_character CHAR(1))
RETURNS VARCHAR(255) AS 
BEGIN

-- Prefix the required number of spaces to bulk up the string and then replace the spaces with the desired character
RETURN CASE
          WHEN LEN(@string) < @desired_length
            THEN REPLACE(SPACE(@desired_length - LEN(@string)), ' ', @pad_character) + @string
          ELSE @string
        END

END
GO

Example of usage