Syntax error in SQL , Incorrect syntax near '' - sql

Question

What is wrong in this?
The error comes from this section;
AND ('''+#searchText+''' = '''' OR (ISNULL(CAST(t1.id as varchar(10)),'''') + '' '' +
ISNULL(CAST(FORMAT(t1.reading_date,#dateformat) as varchar(12)),'''')+'' '' +
ISNULL(t2.description,'''') + '' '' +
ISNULL(t3.equipment_no,'''') + '' '' +
ISNULL(t4.description,'''') + '' '' +
ISNULL(CAST(t1.actual_usage as nvarchar(16)),'''') + '' '' +
ISNULL(t5.uom_code,'''') + '' '' +
ISNULL(CAST(t1.actual_cost as nvarchar(16)),'''') + '' '' +
ISNULL(t6.currency_code,'''') + '' '' +
ISNULL(t1.comment,'''') + '' '' +
ISNULL(CAST(FORMAT(t1.actual_date,#dateformat) as varchar(12)),'''')) LIKE ''%'' '''+#searchText+''' ''%'')
The error:
Msg 102, Level 15, State 1, Line 59
Incorrect syntax near ''.

Answer 1

You can use CONCAT(string1, string2, ...., string_n) instead of doing it manually using + operator. Also, use COALESCE to return column value or empty string. This will simplify the query.
Sample for using CONCAT()
DECLARE #searchText AS VARCHAR(50) = 'SearchMe'
DECLARE #sqlQuery2 AS VARCHAR(5000)
DECLARE #Column1 AS VARCHAR(50) = 'TestValue1'
SET #sqlQuery2 = ' FROM Table
WHERE Column1 = ''' + #Column1 + '''
AND ('''+#searchText+''' = '''' OR (CONCAT(
ISNULL(CAST(t1.id as varchar(10)), '''')
, '' ''
, ISNULL(CAST(FORMAT(t1.reading_date,#dateformat) as varchar(12)), '''')
, '' ''
, ISNULL(t2.description, '''')
, '' ''
, ISNULL(t3.equipment_no, '''')
, '' ''
, ISNULL(t4.description, '''')
, '' ''
, ISNULL(CAST(t1.actual_usage as nvarchar(16)), '''')
, '' ''
, ISNULL(t5.uom_code, '''')
, '' ''
, ISNULL(CAST(t1.actual_cost as nvarchar(16)), '''')
, '' ''
, ISNULL(t6.currency_code, '''')
, '' ''
, ISNULL(t1.comment, '''')
, '' ''
, ISNULL(CAST(FORMAT(t1.actual_date,#dateformat) as varchar(12)), ''''))
)) LIKE ''% ' + #searchText + ' %''
)
ORDER BY someColumn '
select #sqlQuery2
Also noted that LIKE statement string in your code will return syntax error.
Replace the string
LIKE ''%'' ''' + #searchText + ''' ''%''
by this
LIKE ''% ' + #searchText + ' %''
I hope it will help.