I want to create a validation in SQL that will check for a value or combination of values that can be delimited with a semi-colon from a list of 3 possible combinations of 'Apples''Oranges' 'Bananas'.
In the example below the validation should pass for the first options but fail for the last
CREATE TABLE Test1(A varchar (50));
INSERT INTO Test1 VALUES ('Apples;Oranges;Bananas');
INSERT INTO Test1 VALUES ('Apples');
INSERT INTO Test1 VALUES ('Apples;Eggs');
Related
For example, I have a column with type int.
The raw data source has integer values, but the null values, instead of being empty (''), is 'NIL'
How would I handle those values when trying to Bulk Insert into MSSQL?
My code is
create table test (nid INT);
bulk insert test from #FILEPATH with (format="CSV", firstrow=2);
the first 5 rows of my .csv file looks like
1
2
3
NIL
7
You can replace the nil with " (empty string) directly in your data source file or insert the data into a staging table and transform it:
BULK INSERT staging_sample_data
FROM '\\data\sample_data.dat';
INSERT INTO [sample_data]
SELECT NULLIF(ColA, 'nil'), NULLIF(ColB, 'nil'),...
Of course if your field is for example a numeric, the staging table should have a string field. Then, you can do as Larnu offers: 'TRY_CONVERT(INT, ColA)'.
*Note: if there are default constraints you may need to check how to keep nulls
create table monument(ID int primary key,monument varchar(100);
insert into monument values(1,'Taj,Paris');
insert into monument values(2,'Taj');
insert into monument values(3,'Tajmahal,Gateway');
insert into monument values(4,'Burjkhalifa,Gateway of India');
Assuming I'm passing parameters as 'Taj,Gate',hence I need all the rows where monument contains either Taj or Gate in the string.
Storing comma separated values in a single column is a huge design mistake to begin with.
You need to convert the varchar values to arrays to be able to treat the CSV value as separated elements:
select *
from monument m
where string_to_array(m.monument, ',') && string_to_array('Taj,Gate', ',');
Online example: https://rextester.com/BJRTM46696
This seems like a trivial question. And it is. But I have googled for over a day now, and still no answer:
I wish to do a bulk insert where for a column whose datatype is varchar(100), I wish to insert an empty string. Not Null but empty. For example for the table:
create table temp(columnName varchar(100))
I wish to insert an empty string as the value:
BULK INSERT sandbox..temp FROM
'file.txt' WITH ( FIELDTERMINATOR = '|#', ROWTERMINATOR = '|:' );
And the file contents would be row1|:row2|:|:|:. So it contains 4 rows where last two rows are intended to be empty string. But they get inserted as NULL.
This question is not the same as the duplicate marked question: In a column, I wish to have the capacity to insert both: NULL and also empty-string. The answer's provided does only one of them but not both.
Well instead of inserting empty string explicitly like this why not let your table column have a default value of empty string and in your bulk insert don't pass any values for those columns. Something like
create table temp(columnName varchar(100) default '')
A SAMPLE table has only one column ID of type int, default null.
In Oracle when I do:
insert into SAMPLE (ID) values ('');
the new record is added with blank value. But in SQL Server 2008, when I run the same insert statement, the new record has the value of 0.
Is there a way to force SQL Server 2008 to default blank string to NULL instead of 0 (for numerical type of columns)?
Assuming that your INSERT statement is part of a stored procedure re-used in many places of your application (or, perhaps, is a batch always constructed by the same part of the client code) and that the inserted value is a number passed as a string argument, you could modify the INSERT like this:
INSERT INTO SAMPLE (ID) VALUES (NULLIF(#argument, ''));
Use NULL instead.
insert into SAMPLE (ID) values (NULL);
How about another idea - define an INSTEAD OF INSERT Trigger.
Despite the fact that you're trying to insert a string, with this the operation is "intercepted", empty string is replaced by NULL, and the insert succeeds.
If you define this trigger on your table, then you can continue to insert empty string as before, with no other changes.
Edit: As Martin Smith points out, this effectively is a comparison to 0 (the equivalent of empty string as an int) meaning you won't be able to store 0 in this table. I leave this answer here in case that's acceptable to your situation - either that or re-do all your queries!
CREATE TRIGGER EmptyStringTrigger
ON [SAMPLE]
INSTEAD OF INSERT
AS
BEGIN
INSERT INTO [SAMPLE](ID)
SELECT CASE
WHEN ID = '' THEN NULL
ELSE ID
END
FROM inserted
END
SQL Fiddle example
You can't insert a 'string' into a int column. Oracle must be just handling that for you.
Just try inserting NULL if that's what you need.
insert into SAMPLE (ID) values (NULL);
One more option
insert into SAMPLE (ID) values (DEFAULT)
I have a sql server nvarchar field with a "Default Value or Binding" of empty string. It also happens to be a not null field.
Does this mean that there is no default or that it is a default of a string with no characters in it.
If I don't insert a value, will it insert with an empty string or fail with a "not null" error?
The default is a blank (empty) string.
If you don't provide a value, the insert will be successful and the value will be blank, not null.
Its the same as (assuming data is the col in question):
create table #t (id int, data varchar(100) not null default(''))
So:
insert into #t (id) values (1)
insert into #t (id,data) values (2,default)
insert into #t (id,data) values (3, 'allowed')
select * from #t
will return
1
2
3 allowed
and ..
insert into #t (id,data) values (1, null)
-- will error
If you have a true empty string as a default, then it will autopopulate with a 0 length string.
You should be careful to ensure it is a 0 length string and not nothing though. If for instance you are looking in the table builder gui for SSMS and it shows a blank for "Default Value or Binding", that means that there is no default value and an insert will fail if it is not populated. If you want it to have a 0 length string, populate it with '' (two single-quotes together with nothing in between.)
Default value for a column is just that - sql server will put that value when you dont supply one for the column. The value in the column will be an empty string. Not null error will not happen