Concatenate SQL columns with comma separated - sql

Is there any alternate way to concatenate SQL columns with comma separated. I am using below logic for concatenation. The columns (col1,col2,col3) can have null values.
select
stuff(
left(concat(col1,',',col2,',',col3),
len(concat(col1,',',col2,',',col3)) -
patindex('%[^,]%',reverse(concat(col1,',',col2,',',col3)))+1
)
,1,
patindex('%[^,]%',concat(col1,',',col2,',',col3))-1,''
)
from mytable
Sample data/output

In more recent versions of SQL Server you can use concat_ws():
select concat_ws(',', col1, col2, col3)
In earlier versions, there are various approach. A pretty simple one is:
select stuff( concat(',' + col1, ',' + col2, ',' + col3), 1, 1, '')

You can concat separators conditionally. This will output an empty string if either of the columns are null or empty.
select concat(col1,
case when len(col2)>1 then ',' else '' end,
col2,
case when len(col3)>1 then ',' else '' end,
col3)
from your_table;
To output null if either of the columns are null or empty, wrap the concat inside a nullif like this
select nullif(concat(col1,
case when len(col2)>1 then ',' else '' end,
col2,
case when len(col3)>1 then ',' else '' end,
col3),'')
from your_table;

Related

Exclude Null Entries when concatenate

I have columns
Col1|Col2|Col3
Aaaa|Bbbb|Cccc
Null|Bbbb|Cccc
Aaaa|Bbbb|Null
My result should look like
Aaaa,Bbbb,Cccc
Bbbb,Cccc
Aaaa,Bbbb
I tried this with the common '+' way of concatenation like
Select Col1 + ', ' + Col2 + ', ' + Col3
but with this statement I do get Nulls in the resultset if there is a Null in one of the columns. I could do something like
ISNULL(Col1, ' ')
but this end up in having ',' signs messing around
Can anyone help me out here?
The CONCAT() function solves your problem:
Select CONCAT(Col1, ', ', Col2, ', ', Col3)
It ignores NULL values.
The most recent versions of SQL Server support CONCAT_WS():
CONCAT_WS(', ', col1, col2, col3)
This produces slightly different results. For instance, if the second two values are NULL, the first returns 'A,,' but the second returns 'A'. I'm not sure which you really want.

Counting amount of '//' in a dataset (SQL Server)

I have a question related to a SQL Server query.
I want to count all '//' in a dataset. The dataset contains a code. Through counting the '//' i want to declare it as a Comment, IF EVERY SINGLE ROW contains at least one time the string '//'.
Actually I've count the amount of '//' in a dataset, but i don't know how should i continue.
select col1, col2, LEN(col3) - LEN(REPLACE(col3, '//', '' )) AS col3counter
from #tmp
You are going to get twice the count. So either divide by 2 or:
select col1, col2,
( LEN(col3) - LEN(REPLACE(col3, '//', 'x' )) ) AS col3counter
from #tmp
Sorry for double-posting but I solved the issue on my own :-). Code is...
select col1, col2, col3, col4,
LEN(col3) - LEN(REPLACE(col3, '//', ' ' )) AS col3commentcount,
LEN(col3) - LEN(Replace(col3,(char(13)+char(10)),' '))+1 as col3rowcount,
LEN(col4) - LEN(REPLACE(col4, '//', ' ')) AS col4commentcount,
LEN(col4) - LEN(REPLACE(col4,(char(13)+char(10)),' '))+1 as col4rowcount
from #tmp
where LEN(col3) - LEN(REPLACE(col3, '//', ' ' )) =
LEN(col3) - LEN(Replace(col3,(char(13)+char(10)),' '))+1 OR
LEN(col4) - LEN(REPLACE(col4, '//', ' ')) =
LEN(col4) - LEN(REPLACE(col4,(char(13)+char(10)),' '))+1
and idcheck=0
order by col1

combine distinct row values into a string - sql

I would like to take cells in every row and make them into a string of names... My method already deals with casing.
For example, the table;
'john' | | 'smith' | 'smith'
'john' | 'paul' | | 'smith'
'john' | 'john' | 'john' |
returns:
'john smith'
'john paul smith'
'john'
This would need to run postgreSQL 8.2.15 of postgres so I can't make use of potentially useful functions like CONCAT, and data is in a greenplum db.
Alternatively, a method to directly delete duplicate tokens in a list of strings would let me achieve the larger objective. For example:
'john smith john smith'
'john john smith'
'smith john smith'
returns
'john smith'
'john smith'
'smith john'
The order of the tokens is not important, as long as all the unique values are returned, once only.
Thanks
Normalize your table structure, select distinct name values from that table, create a function to aggregate strings (see, e.g., How to concatenate strings of a string field in a PostgreSQL 'group by' query?), and apply that function. Except for the aggregate function creation, this could all be done in a single statement or view.
I've come up with a solution for you! :)
The following query returns the four columns (which I named col_1,2,3and 4) and removes the duplicates by joining the test_table with itself.
Here is the code:
SELECT t1.col_1, t2.col_2, t3.col_3, t4.col_4
FROM (
SELECT id, col_1
FROM test_table
) AS t1
LEFT JOIN (
SELECT id, col_2
FROM test_table
) as t2
ON (t2.id = t1.id and t2.col_2 <> t1.col_1)
LEFT JOIN (
SELECT id, col_3
FROM test_table
) as t3
ON (t3.id = t1.id and t3.col_3 <> t1.col_1 and t3.col_3 <> t2.col_2)
LEFT JOIN (
SELECT id, col_4
FROM test_table
) as t4
ON (t4.id = t1.id and t4.col_4 <> t1.col_1 and t4.col_4 <> t2.col_2 and t4.col_4 <> t3.col_3);
If you want to obtain the final string, you just substitute the "SELECT" row with this one:
SELECT trim(both ' ' FROM (COALESCE(t1.col_1, '') || ' ' || COALESCE(t2.col_2, '') || ' ' || COALESCE(t3.col_3, '') || ' ' || COALESCE(t4.col_4, '')))
this should work with your version of postgres, according with the docs:
[for the trim and concatenation functions]
https://www.postgresql.org/docs/8.2/static/functions-string.html
//***************************************************
[for the coalesce function]
https://www.postgresql.org/docs/8.2/static/functions-conditional.html
Please let me know if I've been of help :)
P.S. Your question sounds like a bad database design: I would have those columns moved on a table in which you could do this operation by using a group by or something similar. Moreover I would do the string concatenation on a separate script.
But that's my way of doing :)
I would do this by unpivoting the data and then reaggregation:
select id, string_agg(distinct col)
from (select id, col1 from t union all
select id, col2 from t union all
select id, col3 from t union all
select id, col4 from t
) t
where col is not null
group by id;
This assumes that each row has an unique id.
You can also use a giant case:
select concat_ws(',',
col1,
(case when col2 <> col1 then col2 end),
(case when col3 <> col2 and col3 <> col1 then col3 end),
(case when col4 <> col3 and col4 <> col2 and col4 <> col1 then col4 end)
) as newcol
from t;
In ancient versions of Postgres, you can phrase this as:
select trim(leading ',' from
(coalesce(',' || col1, '') ||
(case when col2 <> col1 then ',' || col2 else '' end) ||
(case when col3 <> col2 and col3 <> col1 then ',' || col3 else '' end),
(case when col4 <> col3 and col4 <> col2 and col4 <> col1 then ',' || col4 else '' end)
)
) as newcol
from t;

SQL Server: select value, split on a delimiter, then update two columns

I have a SQL Server 2008 database table with three varchar Columns - Col1, Col2, Col3. Col1 has data in it with a single space in between, Col2 and Col3 are empty.
I need to write a query to select the data from Col1, break up each value using the space as the delimiter, and inserting the data on either side of the space into Col2 and Col3 respectively.
I am not too sure how to proceed. Can this be accomplished in SQL, or should I create a small program to do the work for me? I'd appreciate a pointer in the right direction if this can be accomplished via SQL.
Thanks.
UPDATE table SET
Col2 = SUBSTRING(Col1, 1, CHARINDEX(' ', Col1)-1),
Col3 = SUBSTRING(Col1, CHARINDEX(' ', Col1)+1, 8000)
WHERE Col1 LIKE '% %';
If you can guarantee there is only one space:
create table #temp (col1 varchar(50),col2 varchar(50), col3 varchar(50))
insert into #temp (col1)
select 'test 1'
union all
select 'test 2'
union all
select 'test 3'
update #temp
set col2 = left(col1, charindex (' ', col1)),
col3 = substring(col1,charindex (' ', col1)+1, len(col1))
from #temp

concatenate two database columns into one resultset column

I use the following SQL to concatenate several database columns from one table into one column in the result set:
SELECT (field1 + '' + field2 + '' + field3) FROM table1
When one of the fields is null I got null result for the whole concatenation expression. How can I overcome this?
The database is MS SQL Server 2008. By the way, is this the best way to concatenate database columns? Is there any standard SQL doing this?
The SQL standard way of doing this would be:
SELECT COALESCE(field1, '') || COALESCE(field2, '') || COALESCE(field3, '') FROM table1
Example:
INSERT INTO table1 VALUES ('hello', null, 'world');
SELECT COALESCE(field1, '') || COALESCE(field2, '') || COALESCE(field3, '') FROM table1;
helloworld
If you were using SQL 2012 or above you could use the CONCAT function:
SELECT CONCAT(field1, field2, field3) FROM table1
NULL fields won't break your concatenation.
#bummi - Thanks for the comment - edited my answer to correspond to it.
Normal behaviour with NULL is that any operation including a NULL yields a NULL...
- 9 * NULL = NULL
- NULL + '' = NULL
- etc
To overcome this use ISNULL or COALESCE to replace any instances of NULL with something else..
SELECT (ISNULL(field1,'') + '' + ISNULL(field2,'') + '' + ISNULL(field3,'')) FROM table1
If you are having a problem with NULL values, use the COALESCE function to replace the NULL with the value of your choice. Your query would then look like this:
SELECT (COALESCE(field1, '') + '' + COALESCE(field2, '') + '' + COALESCE(field3,'')) FROM table1
http://www.codeproject.com/KB/database/DataCrunching.aspx
Use ISNULL to overcome it.
Example:
SELECT (ISNULL(field1, '') + '' + ISNULL(field2, '')+ '' + ISNULL(field3, '')) FROM table1
This will then replace your NULL content with an empty string which will preserve the concatentation operation from evaluating as an overall NULL result.
If both Column are numeric Then Use This code
Just Cast Column As Varchar(Size)
Example:
Select (Cast(Col1 as Varchar(20)) + '-' + Cast(Col2 as Varchar(20))) As Col3 from Table
Just Cast Column As Varchar(Size)
If both Column are numeric then use code below.
Example:
Select (Cast(Col1 as Varchar(20)) + '-' + Cast(Col2 as Varchar(20))) As Col3 from Table
What will be the size of col3 it will be 40 or something else