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I have a stored procedure that searches a table on a column by a string I pass into a varchar.
This works, returns the specific record with the correct ING_LOC_DESCRIPTION
DECLARE #strSearch VARCHAR(500)
SET #strSearch = 'Care1st LETTER Location'
SELECT TOP 10 ING_LOC_DESCRIPTION
FROM [CDRS].[ING_LOC_TRANS_MASTER]
WHERE [ING_LOC_DESCRIPTION] LIKE '%' + #strSearch + '%'
ORDER BY [ING_LOC_ID]
This doesn't work returns the top ten results from all records ordered by ING_LOC_ID:
DECLARE #strSearch VARCHAR(500)
SET #strSearch = '[{"WorkFlowID":"MoveFile"}]'
SELECT TOP 10 ING_LOC_DESCRIPTION
FROM [CDRS].[ING_LOC_TRANS_MASTER]
WHERE [ING_LOC_DESCRIPTION] LIKE '%' + #strSearch + '%'
ORDER BY [ING_LOC_ID]
Are any of these characters [, {, ", :, }, ] invalid in a varchar? Is it being interpreted as 2 strings? Or is it a problem with the LIKE keyword?
The string assignment seems to be ok because
DECLARE #strSearch VARCHAR(500)
SET #strSearch = '[{"WorkFlowID":"MoveFile"}]'
SELECT #strSearch
returns
[{"WorkFlowID":"MoveFile"}]
Unfortunately
DECLARE #strSearch VARCHAR(500)
SET #strSearch = '[{"WorkFlowID":"MoveFile"}]'
SELECT #strSearch LIKE '[{"WorkFlowID":"MoveFile"}]'
Does not return true or false as I had hoped, it returns an error
Msg 156, Level 15, State 1, Line 3
Incorrect syntax near the keyword 'LIKE'
I think LIKE can only be used in a WHERE clause so I don't think that proves a problem with using LIKE.
Yes. In a LIKE, the [/] bounds a character class. So the code matches any value that contains { or " or W and so on.
I would recommend using a different method:
SELECT TOP 10 ING_LOC_DESCRIPTION
FROM [CDRS].[ING_LOC_TRANS_MASTER]
WHERE CHARINDEX(#strSearch, ING_LOC_DESCRIPTION) > 0
ORDER BY [ING_LOC_ID];
No wildcards in a simple string match.
You need to escape special characters:
List of special characters for SQL LIKE clause
Pattern Matching with the ESCAPE Clause
The [ ] chars has special meaning in T-Sql LIKE - They are used for pattern searches.
For instance: WHERE column LIKE '[a-c]%' will return all records where column starts with a, b or c, while WHERE column LIKE '[^a-c]%' will return all records where Column does not start with a, b or c.
You can escape the [ char by wrapping it inside []: WHERE column LIKE '[[]a]%' will return all records where column starts with [a] (no need to escape the closing bracket).
For more information, read about the arguments of the like operator, and Using Wildcard Characters As Literals a little down the same page.
Gordon's answer is probably the neatest way to do this, but here is an example using ESCAPE:
SELECT TOP 10 ING_LOC_DESCRIPTION
FROM [CDRS].[ING_LOC_TRANS_MASTER]
WHERE [ING_LOC_DESCRIPTION] LIKE '%'+#strSearch+'%' ESCAPE '['
You only need to escape one of the square brackets to avoid the brackets binding a character class.
why does this work,
select*
from some_table
WHERE some_column_name like '%i%'
and not this?
select*
from some_table
WHERE
some_column_name like (select ''''+'%' +value +'%' + '''' as val
from [dbo].[fn_Split](' i this is a test testing Chinese undefined',' ')
where idx = 0)
I am trying to search for individual words instead of the whole phrase, the split function above will split the string on space characters and plug the results into a table with two columns, idx and value.
the LIKE operator takes a string for an argument. It cannot be used on a table, which I assume your function returns.
I think what you want to do is JOIN to the function, and then check where LIKE fn.Value:
select *
from some_table t
INNER JOIN (select value as val
from [dbo].[fn_Split](' i this is a test testing Chinese undefined',' ')
where idx = 0) f
ON t.some_column_name like '%'+f.val+'%'
If your subquery is guaranteed to only return one result, you could try putting the modulo symbols around it instead of inside it:
LIKE '%' + (YourSubQuery) + '%'
One possible reason is because you are appending single quotes onto the beginning and end of the string, and none of the values actually store single quotes in the string.
Another reason is might not work is because the subquery returns more than one row or zero rows. The function fn_split() is your own function, so I don't know what it returns. You have a subquery in a context where it can return at most one row and one column. That is called a scalar subquery. If the subquery returns more than one row, you will get an error. If the subquery returns no rows -- for instance, if idx starts counting at 1 rather than 0 -- then it will return NULL which fails the test.
If you want to find a match this way, I would recommend exists:
select t.*
from some_table t
where exists (select 1 as val
from [dbo].[fn_Split](' i this is a test testing Chinese undefined',' ') s
where s.idx = 0 and
t.some_column_name like '%' + value + '%'
);
The results of your sub-query is a literal string. The % symbol isn't seen as a wildcard. Also, does your functions return multiple rows? If so, LIKE operator can only evaluate a single value.
If your functions does return a single value, I would suggest looking into using Dynamic SQL. Something like the following:
DECLARE #SQL VARCHAR(MAX), #WildCard VARCHAR(MAX)
SELECT #WildCard = '%' + value + '%'
FROM [dbo].[fn_Split](' i this is a test testing Chinese undefined',' ')
WHERE idx = 0
SET #SQL = 'SELECT * FROM some_table WHERE some_column_name like ''' + #WildCardWildCard + ''''
EXEC(#SQL)
I have the following string: 'BOB*', how do I trim the * so it shows up as 'BOB'
I tried the RTRIM('BOB*','*') but does not work as says needs only 1 parameter.
Another pretty good way to implement Oracle's TRIM char FROM string in MS SQL Server is the following:
First, you need to identify a char that will never be used in your string, for example ~
You replace all spaces with that character
You replace the character * you want to trim with a space
You LTrim + RTrim the obtained string
You replace back all spaces with the trimmed character *
You replace back all never-used characters with a space
For example:
REPLACE(REPLACE(LTrim(RTrim(REPLACE(REPLACE(string,' ','~'),'*',' '))),' ','*'),'~',' ')
CREATE FUNCTION dbo.TrimCharacter
(
#Value NVARCHAR(4000),
#CharacterToTrim NVARCHAR(1)
)
RETURNS NVARCHAR(4000)
AS
BEGIN
SET #Value = LTRIM(RTRIM(#Value))
SET #Value = REVERSE(SUBSTRING(#Value, PATINDEX('%[^'+#CharacterToTrim+']%', #Value), LEN(#Value)))
SET #Value = REVERSE(SUBSTRING(#Value, PATINDEX('%[^'+#CharacterToTrim+']%', #Value), LEN(#Value)))
RETURN #Value
END
GO
--- Example
----- SELECT dbo.TrimCharacter('***BOB*********', '*')
----- returns 'BOB'
If you want to remove all asterisks then it's obvious:
SELECT REPLACE('Hello*', '*', '')
However, If you have more than one asterisk at the end and multiple throughout, but are only interested in trimming the trailing ones, then I'd use this:
DECLARE #String VarChar(50) = '**H*i****'
SELECT LEFT(#String, LEN(REPLACE(#String, '*', ' '))) --Returns: **H*i
I updated this answer to include show how to remove leading characters:
SELECT RIGHT(#String, LEN(REPLACE(REVERSE(#String), '*', ' '))) --Returns: H*i****
LEN() has a "feature" (that looks a lot like a bug) where it does not count trailing spaces.
LEFT('BOB*', LEN('BOB*')-1)
should do it.
If you wanted behavior similar to how RTRIM handles spaces i.e. that "B*O*B**" would turn into "B*O*B" without losing the embedded ones then something like -
REVERSE(SUBSTRING(REVERSE('B*O*B**'), PATINDEX('%[^*]%',REVERSE('B*O*B**')), LEN('B*O*B**') - PATINDEX('%[^*]%', REVERSE('B*O*B**')) + 1))
Should do it.
If you only want to remove a single '*' character from the value when the value ends with a '*', a simple CASE expression will do that for you:
SELECT CASE WHEN RIGHT(foo,1) = '*' THEN LEFT(foo,LEN(foo)-1) ELSE foo END AS foo
FROM (SELECT 'BOB*' AS foo)
To remove all trailing '*' characters, then you'd need a more complex expression, making use of the REVERSE, PATINDEX, LEN and LEFT functions.
NOTE: Be careful with the REPLACE function, as that will replace all occurrences of the specified character within the string, not just the trailing ones.
How about.. (in this case to trim off trailing comma or period)
For a variable:
-- Trim commas and full stops from end of City
WHILE RIGHT(#CITY, 1) IN (',', '.'))
SET #CITY = LEFT(#CITY, LEN(#CITY)-1)
For table values:
-- Trim commas and full stops from end of City
WHILE EXISTS (SELECT 1 FROM [sap_out_address] WHERE RIGHT([CITY], 1) IN (',', '.'))
UPDATE [sap_out_address]
SET [CITY] = LEFT([CITY], LEN([CITY])-1)
WHERE RIGHT([CITY], 1) IN (',', '.')
An other approach ONLY if you want to remove leading and trailing characters is the use of TRIM function.
By default removes white spaces but have te avility of remove other characters if you specify its.
SELECT TRIM('=' FROM '=SPECIALS=') AS Result;
Result
--------
SPECIALS
Unfortunately LTRIM and RTRIM does not work in the same way and only removes white spaces instead of specified characters like TRIM does if you specify its.
Reference and more examples:
https://database.guide/how-to-remove-leading-and-trailing-characters-in-sql-server/
RRIM() LTRIM() only remove spaces try http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms186862.aspx
Basically just replace the * with empty space
REPLACE('TextWithCharacterToReplace','CharacterToReplace','CharacterToReplaceWith')
So you want
REPLACE ('BOB*','*','')
I really like Teejay's answer, and almost stopped there. It's clever, but I got the "almost too clever" feeling, as, somehow, your string at some point will actually have a ~ (or whatever) in it on purpose. So that's not defensive enough for me to put into production.
I like Chris' too, but the PATINDEX call seems like overkill.
Though it's probably a micro-optimization, here's one without PATINDEX:
CREATE FUNCTION dbo.TRIMMIT(#stringToTrim NVARCHAR(MAX), #charToTrim NCHAR(1))
RETURNS NVARCHAR(MAX)
AS
BEGIN
DECLARE #retVal NVARCHAR(MAX)
SET #retVal = #stringToTrim
WHILE 1 = charindex(#charToTrim, reverse(#retVal))
SET #retVal = SUBSTRING(#retVal,0,LEN(#retVal))
WHILE 1 = charindex(#charToTrim, #retVal)
SET #retVal = SUBSTRING(#retVal,2,LEN(#retVal))
RETURN #retVal
END
--select dbo.TRIMMIT('\\trim\asdfds\\\', '\')
--trim\asdfds
Returning a MAX nvarchar bugs me a little, but that's the most flexible way to do this..
I've used a similar approach to some of the above answers of using pattern matching and reversing the string to find the first non-trimmable character, then cutting that off. The difference is this version does less work than those above, so should be a little more efficient.
This creates RTRIM functionality for any specified character.
It includes an additional step set #charToFind = case... to escape the chosen character.
There is currently an issue if #charToReplace is a right crotchet (]) as there appears to be no way to escape this.
.
declare #stringToSearch nvarchar(max) = '****this is****a ** demo*****'
, #charToFind nvarchar(5) = '*'
--escape #charToFind so it doesn't break our pattern matching
set #charToFind = case #charToFind
when ']' then '[]]' --*this does not work / can't find any info on escaping right crotchet*
when '^' then '\^'
--when '%' then '%' --doesn't require escaping in this context
--when '[' then '[' --doesn't require escaping in this context
--when '_' then '_' --doesn't require escaping in this context
else #charToFind
end
select #stringToSearch
, left
(
#stringToSearch
,1
+ len(#stringToSearch)
- patindex('%[^' + #charToFind + ']%',reverse(#stringToSearch))
)
SqlServer2017 has a new way to do it: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/sql/t-sql/functions/trim-transact-sql?view=sql-server-2017
SELECT TRIM('0' FROM '00001900'); -> 19
SELECT TRIM( '.,! ' FROM '# test .'); -> # test
SELECT TRIM('*' FROM 'BOB*'); --> BOB
Unfortunately, RTRIM does not support trimming a specific character.
SELECT REPLACE('BOB*', '*', '')
SELECT REPLACE('B*OB*', '*', '')
-------------------------------------
Result : BOB
-------------------------------------
this will replace all asterisk* from the text
Trim with many cases
--id = 100 101 102 103 104 105 106 107 108 109 110 111
select right(id,2)+1 from ordertbl -- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 -- last two positions are taken
select LEFT('BOB', LEN('BOB')-1) -- BO
select LEFT('BOB*',1) --B
select LEFT('BOB*',2) --BO
Try this:
Original
select replace('BOB*','*','')
Fixed to be an exact replacement
select replace('BOB*','BOB*','BOB')
Solution for one char parameter:
rtrim('0000100','0') ->
select left('0000100',len(rtrim(replace('0000100','0',' '))))
ltrim('0000100','0') ->
select right('0000100',len(replace(ltrim(replace('0000100','0',' ')),' ','.')))
#teejay solution is great. But the code below can be more understandable:
declare #X nvarchar(max)='BOB *'
set #X=replace(#X,' ','^')
set #X=replace(#X,'*',' ')
set #X= ltrim(rtrim(#X))
set #X=replace(#X,'^',' ')
Here's a function I used in the past. Note that while you can make it more general purpose by having extra parameters like the character(s) you wish to remove and what you will be replacing the space character(s) with, this greatly increases execution time. Here, I used a pipe to replace spaces AFTER pre-trimming the input. Change varchar to nvarchar if required.
CREATE FUNCTION [dbo].[TrimColons]
(
#strToTrim varchar(500)
)
RETURNS varchar(500)
AS
BEGIN
RETURN REPLACE(REPLACE(LTRIM(RTRIM(REPLACE(REPLACE(LTRIM(RTRIM(#strToTrim)),' ','|'),':',' '))),' ',':'),'|',' ')
/*
Here's a breakdown of this fancy, schmancy, trimmer
LTRIM(RTRIM(#strToTrim)) trims leading & trailing spaces first
REPLACE(LTRIM(RTRIM(#strToTrim)),' ','|') replaces inside spaces with pipe char
REPLACE(REPLACE(LTRIM(RTRIM(#strToTrim)),' ','|'),':',' ') replaces demarc character, the colon, with spaces
LTRIM(RTRIM(REPLACE(REPLACE(LTRIM(RTRIM(#strToTrim)),' ','|'),':',' '))) trims the leading & trailing converted-to-space demarc char (colon)
REPLACE(LTRIM(RTRIM(REPLACE(REPLACE(LTRIM(RTRIM(#strToTrim)),' ','|'),':',' '))),' ',':') replaces the inner space characters back to demar char (colon)
REPLACE(REPLACE(LTRIM(RTRIM(REPLACE(REPLACE(LTRIM(RTRIM(#strToTrim)),' ','|'),':',' '))),' ',':'),'|',' ') replaces the pipe characters back to original space characters
*/
END
DECLARE #String VarChar(50) = '**H*i****', #String2 VarChar(50)
--Assign to new variable #String2
;WITH X AS (
SELECT LEFT(#String, LEN(REPLACE(#String, '*', ' '))) [V1]
)
SELECT TOP 1 #String2 = RIGHT(V1, LEN(REPLACE(REVERSE(V1), '*', ' '))) FROM X
SELECT #String [#String], #String2 [#String2]
--See the intermediate values, v0 original, v1 triming end, and v2 trim the v1 leading
;WITH X AS (
SELECT #String V0, LEFT(#String, LEN(REPLACE(#String, '*', ' '))) [V1]
)
SELECT [V0], [V1], RIGHT([V1], LEN(REPLACE(REVERSE([V1]), '*', ' '))) [v2] FROM X
I have a vairable
DECLARE #AssignOn nvarchar(20)='0,2,5'
I want to check a condition like this
DECLARE #index int
SET DATEFIRST 7
SELECT #index=DATEPART(DW, GETDATE())-1
IF(CONVERT(nvarchar(2),#index) IN #AssignOn)
IN cannot be used here . Any other methods to do this INLINE
You can use CharIndex to find if you have a match. It returns a non zero value if the first string appears in the second.
IF(CHARINDEX(CONVERT(nvarchar(2),#index), #AssignOn) > 0)
The easiest way to do this is to search for the substring ',needle,' in the csv list string. However, this doesn't work correctly for the first and last elements. This can be overcome by concatenating a comma onto each side of the csv list string.
An example in SQL might be:
SELECT
CHARINDEX(','+ NEEDLE +',', ','+ HAYSTACK +',')
FROM table;
Or using LIKE:
SELECT *
FROM table
WHERE ','+ HAYSTACK +',' LIKE '%,'+ NEEDLE +',';
IF CHARINDEX(','+CONVERT(nvarchar(2),#index)+',', ','+#AssignOn+',') <> 0
As you actually define the values in the code you could instead;
DECLARE #AssignOn TABLE (value int)
INSERT #AssignOn VALUES (0),(2),(5)
... #index IN (SELECT value FROM #AssignOn)
I have a table in a SQL Server database with an NTEXT column. This column may contain data that is enclosed with double quotes. When I query for this column, I want to remove these leading and trailing quotes.
For example:
"this is a test message"
should become
this is a test message
I know of the LTRIM and RTRIM functions but these workl only for spaces. Any suggestions on which functions I can use to achieve this.
I have just tested this code in MS SQL 2008 and validated it.
Remove left-most quote:
UPDATE MyTable
SET FieldName = SUBSTRING(FieldName, 2, LEN(FieldName))
WHERE LEFT(FieldName, 1) = '"'
Remove right-most quote: (Revised to avoid error from implicit type conversion to int)
UPDATE MyTable
SET FieldName = SUBSTRING(FieldName, 1, LEN(FieldName)-1)
WHERE RIGHT(FieldName, 1) = '"'
I thought this is a simpler script if you want to remove all quotes
UPDATE Table_Name
SET col_name = REPLACE(col_name, '"', '')
You can simply use the "Replace" function in SQL Server.
like this ::
select REPLACE('this is a test message','"','')
note: second parameter here is "double quotes" inside two single quotes and third parameter is simply a combination of two single quotes. The idea here is to replace the double quotes with a blank.
Very simple and easy to execute !
My solution is to use the difference in the the column values length compared the same column length but with the double quotes replaced with spaces and trimmed in order to calculate the start and length values as parameters in a SUBSTRING function.
The advantage of doing it this way is that you can remove any leading or trailing character even if it occurs multiple times whilst leaving any characters that are contained within the text.
Here is my answer with some test data:
SELECT
x AS before
,SUBSTRING(x
,LEN(x) - (LEN(LTRIM(REPLACE(x, '"', ' ')) + '|') - 1) + 1 --start_pos
,LEN(LTRIM(REPLACE(x, '"', ' '))) --length
) AS after
FROM
(
SELECT 'test' AS x UNION ALL
SELECT '"' AS x UNION ALL
SELECT '"test' AS x UNION ALL
SELECT 'test"' AS x UNION ALL
SELECT '"test"' AS x UNION ALL
SELECT '""test' AS x UNION ALL
SELECT 'test""' AS x UNION ALL
SELECT '""test""' AS x UNION ALL
SELECT '"te"st"' AS x UNION ALL
SELECT 'te"st' AS x
) a
Which produces the following results:
before after
-----------------
test test
"
"test test
test" test
"test" test
""test test
test"" test
""test"" test
"te"st" te"st
te"st te"st
One thing to note that when getting the length I only need to use LTRIM and not LTRIM and RTRIM combined, this is because the LEN function does not count trailing spaces.
I know this is an older question post, but my daughter came to me with the question, and referenced this page as having possible answers. Given that she's hunting an answer for this, it's a safe assumption others might still be as well.
All are great approaches, and as with everything there's about as many way to skin a cat as there are cats to skin.
If you're looking for a left trim and a right trim of a character or string, and your trailing character/string is uniform in length, here's my suggestion:
SELECT SUBSTRING(ColName,VAR, LEN(ColName)-VAR)
Or in this question...
SELECT SUBSTRING('"this is a test message"',2, LEN('"this is a test message"')-2)
With this, you simply adjust the SUBSTRING starting point (2), and LEN position (-2) to whatever value you need to remove from your string.
It's non-iterative and doesn't require explicit case testing and above all it's inline all of which make for a cleaner execution plan.
The following script removes quotation marks only from around the column value if table is called [Messages] and the column is called [Description].
-- If the content is in the form of "anything" (LIKE '"%"')
-- Then take the whole text without the first and last characters
-- (from the 2nd character and the LEN([Description]) - 2th character)
UPDATE [Messages]
SET [Description] = SUBSTRING([Description], 2, LEN([Description]) - 2)
WHERE [Description] LIKE '"%"'
You can use following query which worked for me-
For updating-
UPDATE table SET colName= REPLACE(LTRIM(RTRIM(REPLACE(colName, '"', ''))), '', '"') WHERE...
For selecting-
SELECT REPLACE(LTRIM(RTRIM(REPLACE(colName, '"', ''))), '', '"') FROM TableName
you could replace the quotes with an empty string...
SELECT AllRemoved = REPLACE(CAST(MyColumn AS varchar(max)), '"', ''),
LeadingAndTrailingRemoved = CASE
WHEN MyTest like '"%"' THEN SUBSTRING(Mytest, 2, LEN(CAST(MyTest AS nvarchar(max)))-2)
ELSE MyTest
END
FROM MyTable
Some UDFs for re-usability.
Left Trimming by character (any number)
CREATE FUNCTION [dbo].[LTRIMCHAR] (#Input NVARCHAR(max), #TrimChar CHAR(1) = ',')
RETURNS NVARCHAR(max)
AS
BEGIN
RETURN REPLACE(REPLACE(LTRIM(REPLACE(REPLACE(#Input,' ','¦'), #TrimChar, ' ')), ' ', #TrimChar),'¦',' ')
END
Right Trimming by character (any number)
CREATE FUNCTION [dbo].[RTRIMCHAR] (#Input NVARCHAR(max), #TrimChar CHAR(1) = ',')
RETURNS NVARCHAR(max)
AS
BEGIN
RETURN REPLACE(REPLACE(RTRIM(REPLACE(REPLACE(#Input,' ','¦'), #TrimChar, ' ')), ' ', #TrimChar),'¦',' ')
END
Note the dummy character '¦' (Alt+0166) cannot be present in the data (you may wish to test your input string, first, if unsure or use a different character).
To remove both quotes you could do this
SUBSTRING(fieldName, 2, lEN(fieldName) - 2)
you can either assign or project the resulting value
You can use TRIM('"' FROM '"this "is" a test"') which returns: this "is" a test
CREATE FUNCTION dbo.TRIM(#String VARCHAR(MAX), #Char varchar(5))
RETURNS VARCHAR(MAX)
BEGIN
RETURN SUBSTRING(#String,PATINDEX('%[^' + #Char + ' ]%',#String)
,(DATALENGTH(#String)+2 - (PATINDEX('%[^' + #Char + ' ]%'
,REVERSE(#String)) + PATINDEX('%[^' + #Char + ' ]%',#String)
)))
END
GO
Select dbo.TRIM('"this is a test message"','"')
Reference : http://raresql.com/2013/05/20/sql-server-trim-how-to-remove-leading-and-trailing-charactersspaces-from-string/
I use this:
UPDATE DataImport
SET PRIO =
CASE WHEN LEN(PRIO) < 2
THEN
(CASE PRIO WHEN '""' THEN '' ELSE PRIO END)
ELSE REPLACE(PRIO, '"' + SUBSTRING(PRIO, 2, LEN(PRIO) - 2) + '"',
SUBSTRING(PRIO, 2, LEN(PRIO) - 2))
END
Try this:
SELECT left(right(cast(SampleText as nVarchar),LEN(cast(sampleText as nVarchar))-1),LEN(cast(sampleText as nVarchar))-2)
FROM TableName