Read each string that follows a char in sql - sql

So let us say you have a string:
set #string = 'aaa,2,dqw,3,asdad,5,4'
I would like to read the chars that are after a char and a ","
So the result to this string would be:
Result
--------
2
3
5
How could I do this?is there a way to use CHARINDEX for this?


If your string is just like your example, using Charindex(',', <string>) works too.
Otherwise, use PATINDEX. It functions similarly,but you can also set it to recognize all numeric characters.
IF PATINDEX('%[0-9]%', #String') <> 0
THEN BEGIN
SET #string = SUBSTRING(#string, PATINDEX('%[0-9]%', #string), LEN(#string) )
SET #var = SUBSTRING(#string, PATINDEX('%[^0-9]%', #string) )
END
you now can do as you please with those variables.
To your exception, just use one more case statement and rid of it. No reason the code has to be too complicated.


One more Approach using numbers table and split string functions
declare #string varchar(max)
set #string = 'aaa,2,dqw,3,asdad,5,4'
;with cte
as
(
select * from [dbo].[SplitStrings_Numbers](#string,',')
)
select
* from cte where isnumeric(item)=1
Output:
2
3
5
4
if you are sure about no special characters in your data..You can use above,,but some times using NUMERIC tends to show some characters as numbers
SELECT
ISNUMERIC('123') as '123' --1
,ISNUMERIC('.') as '.' --Period ---1
,ISNUMERIC(',') as ',' --Comma ---1
In this case,you can use TRY_Parse available from SQL server 2012..
declare #string varchar(max)
set #string = 'aaa,2,dqw,3,asdad,5,4'
;with cte
as
(
select b.* from [dbo].[SplitStrings_Numbers](#string,',') a
cross apply
(select try_parse(a.item as int) ) b(val)
)
select
* from cte where val is not null

Related

Parse String With Hyphens As Separators in SQL [duplicate]

I have a table like this
Value String
-------------------
1 Cleo, Smith
I want to separate the comma delimited string into two columns
Value Name Surname
-------------------
1 Cleo Smith
I need only two fixed extra columns

Your purpose can be solved using following query -
Select Value , Substring(FullName, 1,Charindex(',', FullName)-1) as Name,
Substring(FullName, Charindex(',', FullName)+1, LEN(FullName)) as Surname
from Table1
There is no readymade Split function in sql server, so we need to create user defined function.
CREATE FUNCTION Split (
#InputString VARCHAR(8000),
#Delimiter VARCHAR(50)
)
RETURNS #Items TABLE (
Item VARCHAR(8000)
)
AS
BEGIN
IF #Delimiter = ' '
BEGIN
SET #Delimiter = ','
SET #InputString = REPLACE(#InputString, ' ', #Delimiter)
END
IF (#Delimiter IS NULL OR #Delimiter = '')
SET #Delimiter = ','
--INSERT INTO #Items VALUES (#Delimiter) -- Diagnostic
--INSERT INTO #Items VALUES (#InputString) -- Diagnostic
DECLARE #Item VARCHAR(8000)
DECLARE #ItemList VARCHAR(8000)
DECLARE #DelimIndex INT
SET #ItemList = #InputString
SET #DelimIndex = CHARINDEX(#Delimiter, #ItemList, 0)
WHILE (#DelimIndex != 0)
BEGIN
SET #Item = SUBSTRING(#ItemList, 0, #DelimIndex)
INSERT INTO #Items VALUES (#Item)
-- Set #ItemList = #ItemList minus one less item
SET #ItemList = SUBSTRING(#ItemList, #DelimIndex+1, LEN(#ItemList)-#DelimIndex)
SET #DelimIndex = CHARINDEX(#Delimiter, #ItemList, 0)
END -- End WHILE
IF #Item IS NOT NULL -- At least one delimiter was encountered in #InputString
BEGIN
SET #Item = #ItemList
INSERT INTO #Items VALUES (#Item)
END
-- No delimiters were encountered in #InputString, so just return #InputString
ELSE INSERT INTO #Items VALUES (#InputString)
RETURN
END -- End Function
GO
---- Set Permissions
--GRANT SELECT ON Split TO UserRole1
--GRANT SELECT ON Split TO UserRole2
--GO

;WITH Split_Names (Value,Name, xmlname)
AS
(
SELECT Value,
Name,
CONVERT(XML,'<Names><name>'
+ REPLACE(Name,',', '</name><name>') + '</name></Names>') AS xmlname
FROM tblnames
)
SELECT Value,
xmlname.value('/Names[1]/name[1]','varchar(100)') AS Name,
xmlname.value('/Names[1]/name[2]','varchar(100)') AS Surname
FROM Split_Names
and also check the link below for reference
http://jahaines.blogspot.in/2009/06/converting-delimited-string-of-values.html

xml based answer is simple and clean
refer this
DECLARE #S varchar(max),
#Split char(1),
#X xml
SELECT #S = 'ab,cd,ef,gh,ij',
#Split = ','
SELECT #X = CONVERT(xml,' <root> <myvalue>' +
REPLACE(#S,#Split,'</myvalue> <myvalue>') + '</myvalue> </root> ')
SELECT T.c.value('.','varchar(20)'), --retrieve ALL values at once
T.c.value('(/root/myvalue)[1]','VARCHAR(20)') , --retrieve index 1 only, which is the 'ab'
T.c.value('(/root/myvalue)[2]','VARCHAR(20)')
FROM #X.nodes('/root/myvalue') T(c)

I think this is cool
SELECT value,
PARSENAME(REPLACE(String,',','.'),2) 'Name' ,
PARSENAME(REPLACE(String,',','.'),1) 'Surname'
FROM table WITH (NOLOCK)

With CROSS APPLY
select ParsedData.*
from MyTable mt
cross apply ( select str = mt.String + ',,' ) f1
cross apply ( select p1 = charindex( ',', str ) ) ap1
cross apply ( select p2 = charindex( ',', str, p1 + 1 ) ) ap2
cross apply ( select Nmame = substring( str, 1, p1-1 )
, Surname = substring( str, p1+1, p2-p1-1 )
) ParsedData

There are multiple ways to solve this and many different ways have been proposed already. Simplest would be to use LEFT / SUBSTRING and other string functions to achieve the desired result.
Sample Data
DECLARE #tbl1 TABLE (Value INT,String VARCHAR(MAX))
INSERT INTO #tbl1 VALUES(1,'Cleo, Smith');
INSERT INTO #tbl1 VALUES(2,'John, Mathew');
Using String Functions like LEFT
SELECT
Value,
LEFT(String,CHARINDEX(',',String)-1) as Fname,
LTRIM(RIGHT(String,LEN(String) - CHARINDEX(',',String) )) AS Lname
FROM #tbl1
This approach fails if there are more 2 items in a String.
In such a scenario, we can use a splitter and then use PIVOT or convert the string into an XML and use .nodes to get string items. XML based solution have been detailed out by aads and bvr in their solution.
The answers for this question which use splitter, all use WHILE which is inefficient for splitting. Check this performance comparison. One of the best splitters around is DelimitedSplit8K, created by Jeff Moden. You can read more about it here
Splitter with PIVOT
DECLARE #tbl1 TABLE (Value INT,String VARCHAR(MAX))
INSERT INTO #tbl1 VALUES(1,'Cleo, Smith');
INSERT INTO #tbl1 VALUES(2,'John, Mathew');
SELECT t3.Value,[1] as Fname,[2] as Lname
FROM #tbl1 as t1
CROSS APPLY [dbo].[DelimitedSplit8K](String,',') as t2
PIVOT(MAX(Item) FOR ItemNumber IN ([1],[2])) as t3
Output
Value Fname Lname
1 Cleo Smith
2 John Mathew
DelimitedSplit8K by Jeff Moden
CREATE FUNCTION [dbo].[DelimitedSplit8K]
/**********************************************************************************************************************
Purpose:
Split a given string at a given delimiter and return a list of the split elements (items).
Notes:
1. Leading a trailing delimiters are treated as if an empty string element were present.
2. Consecutive delimiters are treated as if an empty string element were present between them.
3. Except when spaces are used as a delimiter, all spaces present in each element are preserved.
Returns:
iTVF containing the following:
ItemNumber = Element position of Item as a BIGINT (not converted to INT to eliminate a CAST)
Item = Element value as a VARCHAR(8000)
Statistics on this function may be found at the following URL:
http://www.sqlservercentral.com/Forums/Topic1101315-203-4.aspx
CROSS APPLY Usage Examples and Tests:
--=====================================================================================================================
-- TEST 1:
-- This tests for various possible conditions in a string using a comma as the delimiter. The expected results are
-- laid out in the comments
--=====================================================================================================================
--===== Conditionally drop the test tables to make reruns easier for testing.
-- (this is NOT a part of the solution)
IF OBJECT_ID('tempdb..#JBMTest') IS NOT NULL DROP TABLE #JBMTest
;
--===== Create and populate a test table on the fly (this is NOT a part of the solution).
-- In the following comments, "b" is a blank and "E" is an element in the left to right order.
-- Double Quotes are used to encapsulate the output of "Item" so that you can see that all blanks
-- are preserved no matter where they may appear.
SELECT *
INTO #JBMTest
FROM ( --# & type of Return Row(s)
SELECT 0, NULL UNION ALL --1 NULL
SELECT 1, SPACE(0) UNION ALL --1 b (Empty String)
SELECT 2, SPACE(1) UNION ALL --1 b (1 space)
SELECT 3, SPACE(5) UNION ALL --1 b (5 spaces)
SELECT 4, ',' UNION ALL --2 b b (both are empty strings)
SELECT 5, '55555' UNION ALL --1 E
SELECT 6, ',55555' UNION ALL --2 b E
SELECT 7, ',55555,' UNION ALL --3 b E b
SELECT 8, '55555,' UNION ALL --2 b B
SELECT 9, '55555,1' UNION ALL --2 E E
SELECT 10, '1,55555' UNION ALL --2 E E
SELECT 11, '55555,4444,333,22,1' UNION ALL --5 E E E E E
SELECT 12, '55555,4444,,333,22,1' UNION ALL --6 E E b E E E
SELECT 13, ',55555,4444,,333,22,1,' UNION ALL --8 b E E b E E E b
SELECT 14, ',55555,4444,,,333,22,1,' UNION ALL --9 b E E b b E E E b
SELECT 15, ' 4444,55555 ' UNION ALL --2 E (w/Leading Space) E (w/Trailing Space)
SELECT 16, 'This,is,a,test.' --E E E E
) d (SomeID, SomeValue)
;
--===== Split the CSV column for the whole table using CROSS APPLY (this is the solution)
SELECT test.SomeID, test.SomeValue, split.ItemNumber, Item = QUOTENAME(split.Item,'"')
FROM #JBMTest test
CROSS APPLY dbo.DelimitedSplit8K(test.SomeValue,',') split
;
--=====================================================================================================================
-- TEST 2:
-- This tests for various "alpha" splits and COLLATION using all ASCII characters from 0 to 255 as a delimiter against
-- a given string. Note that not all of the delimiters will be visible and some will show up as tiny squares because
-- they are "control" characters. More specifically, this test will show you what happens to various non-accented
-- letters for your given collation depending on the delimiter you chose.
--=====================================================================================================================
WITH
cteBuildAllCharacters (String,Delimiter) AS
(
SELECT TOP 256
'ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZabcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz0123456789',
CHAR(ROW_NUMBER() OVER (ORDER BY (SELECT NULL))-1)
FROM master.sys.all_columns
)
SELECT ASCII_Value = ASCII(c.Delimiter), c.Delimiter, split.ItemNumber, Item = QUOTENAME(split.Item,'"')
FROM cteBuildAllCharacters c
CROSS APPLY dbo.DelimitedSplit8K(c.String,c.Delimiter) split
ORDER BY ASCII_Value, split.ItemNumber
;
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Other Notes:
1. Optimized for VARCHAR(8000) or less. No testing or error reporting for truncation at 8000 characters is done.
2. Optimized for single character delimiter. Multi-character delimiters should be resolvedexternally from this
function.
3. Optimized for use with CROSS APPLY.
4. Does not "trim" elements just in case leading or trailing blanks are intended.
5. If you don't know how a Tally table can be used to replace loops, please see the following...
http://www.sqlservercentral.com/articles/T-SQL/62867/
6. Changing this function to use NVARCHAR(MAX) will cause it to run twice as slow. It's just the nature of
VARCHAR(MAX) whether it fits in-row or not.
7. Multi-machine testing for the method of using UNPIVOT instead of 10 SELECT/UNION ALLs shows that the UNPIVOT method
is quite machine dependent and can slow things down quite a bit.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Credits:
This code is the product of many people's efforts including but not limited to the following:
cteTally concept originally by Iztek Ben Gan and "decimalized" by Lynn Pettis (and others) for a bit of extra speed
and finally redacted by Jeff Moden for a different slant on readability and compactness. Hat's off to Paul White for
his simple explanations of CROSS APPLY and for his detailed testing efforts. Last but not least, thanks to
Ron "BitBucket" McCullough and Wayne Sheffield for their extreme performance testing across multiple machines and
versions of SQL Server. The latest improvement brought an additional 15-20% improvement over Rev 05. Special thanks
to "Nadrek" and "peter-757102" (aka Peter de Heer) for bringing such improvements to light. Nadrek's original
improvement brought about a 10% performance gain and Peter followed that up with the content of Rev 07.
I also thank whoever wrote the first article I ever saw on "numbers tables" which is located at the following URL
and to Adam Machanic for leading me to it many years ago.
http://sqlserver2000.databases.aspfaq.com/why-should-i-consider-using-an-auxiliary-numbers-table.html
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Revision History:
Rev 00 - 20 Jan 2010 - Concept for inline cteTally: Lynn Pettis and others.
Redaction/Implementation: Jeff Moden
- Base 10 redaction and reduction for CTE. (Total rewrite)
Rev 01 - 13 Mar 2010 - Jeff Moden
- Removed one additional concatenation and one subtraction from the SUBSTRING in the SELECT List for that tiny
bit of extra speed.
Rev 02 - 14 Apr 2010 - Jeff Moden
- No code changes. Added CROSS APPLY usage example to the header, some additional credits, and extra
documentation.
Rev 03 - 18 Apr 2010 - Jeff Moden
- No code changes. Added notes 7, 8, and 9 about certain "optimizations" that don't actually work for this
type of function.
Rev 04 - 29 Jun 2010 - Jeff Moden
- Added WITH SCHEMABINDING thanks to a note by Paul White. This prevents an unnecessary "Table Spool" when the
function is used in an UPDATE statement even though the function makes no external references.
Rev 05 - 02 Apr 2011 - Jeff Moden
- Rewritten for extreme performance improvement especially for larger strings approaching the 8K boundary and
for strings that have wider elements. The redaction of this code involved removing ALL concatenation of
delimiters, optimization of the maximum "N" value by using TOP instead of including it in the WHERE clause,
and the reduction of all previous calculations (thanks to the switch to a "zero based" cteTally) to just one
instance of one add and one instance of a subtract. The length calculation for the final element (not
followed by a delimiter) in the string to be split has been greatly simplified by using the ISNULL/NULLIF
combination to determine when the CHARINDEX returned a 0 which indicates there are no more delimiters to be
had or to start with. Depending on the width of the elements, this code is between 4 and 8 times faster on a
single CPU box than the original code especially near the 8K boundary.
- Modified comments to include more sanity checks on the usage example, etc.
- Removed "other" notes 8 and 9 as they were no longer applicable.
Rev 06 - 12 Apr 2011 - Jeff Moden
- Based on a suggestion by Ron "Bitbucket" McCullough, additional test rows were added to the sample code and
the code was changed to encapsulate the output in pipes so that spaces and empty strings could be perceived
in the output. The first "Notes" section was added. Finally, an extra test was added to the comments above.
Rev 07 - 06 May 2011 - Peter de Heer, a further 15-20% performance enhancement has been discovered and incorporated
into this code which also eliminated the need for a "zero" position in the cteTally table.
**********************************************************************************************************************/
--===== Define I/O parameters
(#pString VARCHAR(8000), #pDelimiter CHAR(1))
RETURNS TABLE WITH SCHEMABINDING AS
RETURN
--===== "Inline" CTE Driven "Tally Table" produces values from 0 up to 10,000...
-- enough to cover NVARCHAR(4000)
WITH E1(N) AS (
SELECT 1 UNION ALL SELECT 1 UNION ALL SELECT 1 UNION ALL
SELECT 1 UNION ALL SELECT 1 UNION ALL SELECT 1 UNION ALL
SELECT 1 UNION ALL SELECT 1 UNION ALL SELECT 1 UNION ALL SELECT 1
), --10E+1 or 10 rows
E2(N) AS (SELECT 1 FROM E1 a, E1 b), --10E+2 or 100 rows
E4(N) AS (SELECT 1 FROM E2 a, E2 b), --10E+4 or 10,000 rows max
cteTally(N) AS (--==== This provides the "base" CTE and limits the number of rows right up front
-- for both a performance gain and prevention of accidental "overruns"
SELECT TOP (ISNULL(DATALENGTH(#pString),0)) ROW_NUMBER() OVER (ORDER BY (SELECT NULL)) FROM E4
),
cteStart(N1) AS (--==== This returns N+1 (starting position of each "element" just once for each delimiter)
SELECT 1 UNION ALL
SELECT t.N+1 FROM cteTally t WHERE SUBSTRING(#pString,t.N,1) = #pDelimiter
),
cteLen(N1,L1) AS(--==== Return start and length (for use in substring)
SELECT s.N1,
ISNULL(NULLIF(CHARINDEX(#pDelimiter,#pString,s.N1),0)-s.N1,8000)
FROM cteStart s
)
--===== Do the actual split. The ISNULL/NULLIF combo handles the length for the final element when no delimiter is found.
SELECT ItemNumber = ROW_NUMBER() OVER(ORDER BY l.N1),
Item = SUBSTRING(#pString, l.N1, l.L1)
FROM cteLen l
;
GO

With SQL Server 2016 we can use string_split to accomplish this:
create table commasep (
id int identity(1,1)
,string nvarchar(100) )
insert into commasep (string) values ('John, Adam'), ('test1,test2,test3')
select id, [value] as String from commasep
cross apply string_split(string,',')

CREATE FUNCTION [dbo].[fn_split_string_to_column] (
#string NVARCHAR(MAX),
#delimiter CHAR(1)
)
RETURNS #out_put TABLE (
[column_id] INT IDENTITY(1, 1) NOT NULL,
[value] NVARCHAR(MAX)
)
AS
BEGIN
DECLARE #value NVARCHAR(MAX),
#pos INT = 0,
#len INT = 0
SET #string = CASE
WHEN RIGHT(#string, 1) != #delimiter
THEN #string + #delimiter
ELSE #string
END
WHILE CHARINDEX(#delimiter, #string, #pos + 1) > 0
BEGIN
SET #len = CHARINDEX(#delimiter, #string, #pos + 1) - #pos
SET #value = SUBSTRING(#string, #pos, #len)
INSERT INTO #out_put ([value])
SELECT LTRIM(RTRIM(#value)) AS [column]
SET #pos = CHARINDEX(#delimiter, #string, #pos + #len) + 1
END
RETURN
END

SELECT id,
Substring(NAME, 0, Charindex(',', NAME)) AS firstname,
Substring(NAME, Charindex(',', NAME), Len(NAME) + 1) AS lastname
FROM spilt

Try this (change instances of ' ' to ',' or whatever delimiter you want to use)
CREATE FUNCTION dbo.Wordparser
(
#multiwordstring VARCHAR(255),
#wordnumber NUMERIC
)
returns VARCHAR(255)
AS
BEGIN
DECLARE #remainingstring VARCHAR(255)
SET #remainingstring=#multiwordstring
DECLARE #numberofwords NUMERIC
SET #numberofwords=(LEN(#remainingstring) - LEN(REPLACE(#remainingstring, ' ', '')) + 1)
DECLARE #word VARCHAR(50)
DECLARE #parsedwords TABLE
(
line NUMERIC IDENTITY(1, 1),
word VARCHAR(255)
)
WHILE #numberofwords > 1
BEGIN
SET #word=LEFT(#remainingstring, CHARINDEX(' ', #remainingstring) - 1)
INSERT INTO #parsedwords(word)
SELECT #word
SET #remainingstring= REPLACE(#remainingstring, Concat(#word, ' '), '')
SET #numberofwords=(LEN(#remainingstring) - LEN(REPLACE(#remainingstring, ' ', '')) + 1)
IF #numberofwords = 1
BREAK
ELSE
CONTINUE
END
IF #numberofwords = 1
SELECT #word = #remainingstring
INSERT INTO #parsedwords(word)
SELECT #word
RETURN
(SELECT word
FROM #parsedwords
WHERE line = #wordnumber)
END
Example usage:
SELECT dbo.Wordparser(COLUMN, 1),
dbo.Wordparser(COLUMN, 2),
dbo.Wordparser(COLUMN, 3)
FROM TABLE

I think PARSENAME is the neat function to use for this example, as described in this article: http://www.sqlshack.com/parsing-and-rotating-delimited-data-in-sql-server-2012/
The PARSENAME function is logically designed to parse four-part object names. The nice thing about PARSENAME is that it’s not limited to parsing just SQL Server four-part object names – it will parse any function or string data that is delimited by dots.
The first parameter is the object to parse, and the second is the integer value of the object piece to return. The article is discussing parsing and rotating delimited data - company phone numbers, but it can be used to parse name/surname data also.
Example:
USE COMPANY;
SELECT PARSENAME('Whatever.you.want.parsed',3) AS 'ReturnValue';
The article also describes using a Common Table Expression (CTE) called ‘replaceChars’, to run PARSENAME against the delimiter-replaced values. A CTE is useful for returning a temporary view or result set.
After that, the UNPIVOT function has been used to convert some columns into rows; SUBSTRING and CHARINDEX functions have been used for cleaning up the inconsistencies in the data, and the LAG function (new for SQL Server 2012) has been used in the end, as it allows referencing of previous records.

We can create a function as this
CREATE Function [dbo].[fn_CSVToTable]
(
#CSVList Varchar(max)
)
RETURNS #Table TABLE (ColumnData VARCHAR(100))
AS
BEGIN
IF RIGHT(#CSVList, 1) <> ','
SELECT #CSVList = #CSVList + ','
DECLARE #Pos BIGINT,
#OldPos BIGINT
SELECT #Pos = 1,
#OldPos = 1
WHILE #Pos < LEN(#CSVList)
BEGIN
SELECT #Pos = CHARINDEX(',', #CSVList, #OldPos)
INSERT INTO #Table
SELECT LTRIM(RTRIM(SUBSTRING(#CSVList, #OldPos, #Pos - #OldPos))) Col001
SELECT #OldPos = #Pos + 1
END
RETURN
END
We can then seperate the CSV values into our respective columns using a SELECT statement

You can use a table-valued function STRING_SPLIT, which is available only under compatibility level 130. If your database compatibility level is lower than 130, SQL Server will not be able to find and execute the STRING_SPLIT function. You can change a compatibility level of the database using the following command:
ALTER DATABASE DatabaseName SET COMPATIBILITY_LEVEL = 130
Syntax
SELECT * FROM STRING_SPLIT ( string, separator )
see documentation here

I think following function will work for you:
You have to create a function in SQL first. Like this
CREATE FUNCTION [dbo].[fn_split](
#str VARCHAR(MAX),
#delimiter CHAR(1)
)
RETURNS #returnTable TABLE (idx INT PRIMARY KEY IDENTITY, item VARCHAR(8000))
AS
BEGIN
DECLARE #pos INT
SELECT #str = #str + #delimiter
WHILE LEN(#str) > 0
BEGIN
SELECT #pos = CHARINDEX(#delimiter,#str)
IF #pos = 1
INSERT #returnTable (item)
VALUES (NULL)
ELSE
INSERT #returnTable (item)
VALUES (SUBSTRING(#str, 1, #pos-1))
SELECT #str = SUBSTRING(#str, #pos+1, LEN(#str)-#pos)
END
RETURN
END
You can call this function, like this:
select * from fn_split('1,24,5',',')
Implementation:
Declare #test TABLE (
ID VARCHAR(200),
Data VARCHAR(200)
)
insert into #test
(ID, Data)
Values
('1','Cleo,Smith')
insert into #test
(ID, Data)
Values
('2','Paul,Grim')
select ID,
(select item from fn_split(Data,',') where idx in (1)) as Name ,
(select item from fn_split(Data,',') where idx in (2)) as Surname
from #test
Result will like this:

Use Parsename() function
with cte as(
select 'Aria,Karimi' as FullName
Union
select 'Joe,Karimi' as FullName
Union
select 'Bab,Karimi' as FullName
)
SELECT PARSENAME(REPLACE(FullName,',','.'),2) as Name,
PARSENAME(REPLACE(FullName,',','.'),1) as Family
FROM cte
Result
Name Family
----- ------
Aria Karimi
Bab Karimi
Joe Karimi

Try this:
declare #csv varchar(100) ='aaa,bb,csda,daass';
set #csv = #csv+',';
with cte as
(
select SUBSTRING(#csv,1,charindex(',',#csv,1)-1) as val, SUBSTRING(#csv,charindex(',',#csv,1)+1,len(#csv)) as rem
UNION ALL
select SUBSTRING(a.rem,1,charindex(',',a.rem,1)-1)as val, SUBSTRING(a.rem,charindex(',',a.rem,1)+1,len(A.rem))
from cte a where LEN(a.rem)>=1
) select val from cte

This function is most fast:
CREATE FUNCTION dbo.F_ExtractSubString
(
#String VARCHAR(MAX),
#NroSubString INT,
#Separator VARCHAR(5)
)
RETURNS VARCHAR(MAX) AS
BEGIN
DECLARE #St INT = 0, #End INT = 0, #Ret VARCHAR(MAX)
SET #String = #String + #Separator
WHILE CHARINDEX(#Separator, #String, #End + 1) > 0 AND #NroSubString > 0
BEGIN
SET #St = #End + 1
SET #End = CHARINDEX(#Separator, #String, #End + 1)
SET #NroSubString = #NroSubString - 1
END
IF #NroSubString > 0
SET #Ret = ''
ELSE
SET #Ret = SUBSTRING(#String, #St, #End - #St)
RETURN #Ret
END
GO
Example usage:
SELECT dbo.F_ExtractSubString(COLUMN, 1, ', '),
dbo.F_ExtractSubString(COLUMN, 2, ', '),
dbo.F_ExtractSubString(COLUMN, 3, ', ')
FROM TABLE

I encountered a similar problem but a complex one and since this is the first thread i found regarding that issue i decided to post my finding. i know it is complex solution to a simple problem but i hope that i could help other people who go to this thread looking for a more complex solution. i had to split a string containing 5 numbers (column name: levelsFeed) and to show each number in a separate column.
for example: 8,1,2,2,2
should be shown as :
1 2 3 4 5
-------------
8 1 2 2 2
Solution 1: using XML functions:
this solution for the slowest solution by far
SELECT Distinct FeedbackID,
, S.a.value('(/H/r)[1]', 'INT') AS level1
, S.a.value('(/H/r)[2]', 'INT') AS level2
, S.a.value('(/H/r)[3]', 'INT') AS level3
, S.a.value('(/H/r)[4]', 'INT') AS level4
, S.a.value('(/H/r)[5]', 'INT') AS level5
FROM (
SELECT *,CAST (N'<H><r>' + REPLACE(levelsFeed, ',', '</r><r>') + '</r> </H>' AS XML) AS [vals]
FROM Feedbacks
) as d
CROSS APPLY d.[vals].nodes('/H/r') S(a)
Solution 2: using Split function and pivot. (the split function split a string to rows with the column name Data)
SELECT FeedbackID, [1],[2],[3],[4],[5]
FROM (
SELECT *, ROW_NUMBER() OVER (PARTITION BY feedbackID ORDER BY (SELECT null)) as rn
FROM (
SELECT FeedbackID, levelsFeed
FROM Feedbacks
) as a
CROSS APPLY dbo.Split(levelsFeed, ',')
) as SourceTable
PIVOT
(
MAX(data)
FOR rn IN ([1],[2],[3],[4],[5])
)as pivotTable
Solution 3: using string manipulations functions - fastest by small margin over solution 2
SELECT FeedbackID,
SUBSTRING(levelsFeed,0,CHARINDEX(',',levelsFeed)) AS level1,
PARSENAME(REPLACE(SUBSTRING(levelsFeed,CHARINDEX(',',levelsFeed)+1,LEN(levelsFeed)),',','.'),4) AS level2,
PARSENAME(REPLACE(SUBSTRING(levelsFeed,CHARINDEX(',',levelsFeed)+1,LEN(levelsFeed)),',','.'),3) AS level3,
PARSENAME(REPLACE(SUBSTRING(levelsFeed,CHARINDEX(',',levelsFeed)+1,LEN(levelsFeed)),',','.'),2) AS level4,
PARSENAME(REPLACE(SUBSTRING(levelsFeed,CHARINDEX(',',levelsFeed)+1,LEN(levelsFeed)),',','.'),1) AS level5
FROM Feedbacks
since the levelsFeed contains 5 string values i needed to use the substring function for the first string.
i hope that my solution will help other that got to this thread looking for a more complex split to columns methods

Using instring function :)
select Value,
substring(String,1,instr(String," ") -1) Fname,
substring(String,instr(String,",") +1) Sname
from tablename;
Used two functions,
1. substring(string, position, length) ==> returns string from positon to length
2. instr(string,pattern) ==> returns position of pattern.
If we don’t provide length argument in substring it returns until end of string

This worked for me
CREATE FUNCTION [dbo].[SplitString](
#delimited NVARCHAR(MAX),
#delimiter NVARCHAR(100)
) RETURNS #t TABLE ( val NVARCHAR(MAX))
AS
BEGIN
DECLARE #xml XML
SET #xml = N'<t>' + REPLACE(#delimited,#delimiter,'</t><t>') + '</t>'
INSERT INTO #t(val)
SELECT r.value('.','varchar(MAX)') as item
FROM #xml.nodes('/t') as records(r)
RETURN
END

mytable:
Value ColOne
--------------------
1 Cleo, Smith
The following should work if there aren't too many columns
ALTER TABLE mytable ADD ColTwo nvarchar(256);
UPDATE mytable SET ColTwo = LEFT(ColOne, Charindex(',', ColOne) - 1);
--'Cleo' = LEFT('Cleo, Smith', Charindex(',', 'Cleo, Smith') - 1)
UPDATE mytable SET ColTwo = REPLACE(ColOne, ColTwo + ',', '');
--' Smith' = REPLACE('Cleo, Smith', 'Cleo' + ',')
UPDATE mytable SET ColOne = REPLACE(ColOne, ',' + ColTwo, ''), ColTwo = LTRIM(ColTwo);
--'Cleo' = REPLACE('Cleo, Smith', ',' + ' Smith', '')
Result:
Value ColOne ColTwo
--------------------
1 Cleo Smith

DECLARE #INPUT VARCHAR (MAX)='N,A,R,E,N,D,R,A'
DECLARE #ELIMINATE_CHAR CHAR (1)=','
DECLARE #L_START INT=1
DECLARE #L_END INT=(SELECT LEN (#INPUT))
DECLARE #OUTPUT CHAR (1)
WHILE #L_START <=#L_END
BEGIN
SET #OUTPUT=(SUBSTRING (#INPUT,#L_START,1))
IF #OUTPUT!=#ELIMINATE_CHAR
BEGIN
PRINT #OUTPUT
END
SET #L_START=#L_START+1
END

You may find the solution in SQL User Defined Function to Parse a Delimited String helpful (from The Code Project).
This is the code part from this page:
CREATE FUNCTION [fn_ParseText2Table]
(#p_SourceText VARCHAR(MAX)
,#p_Delimeter VARCHAR(100)=',' --default to comma delimited.
)
RETURNS #retTable
TABLE([Position] INT IDENTITY(1,1)
,[Int_Value] INT
,[Num_Value] NUMERIC(18,3)
,[Txt_Value] VARCHAR(MAX)
,[Date_value] DATETIME
)
AS
/*
********************************************************************************
Purpose: Parse values from a delimited string
& return the result as an indexed table
Copyright 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003 Clayton Groom (Clayton_Groom#hotmail.com)
Posted to the public domain Aug, 2004
2003-06-17 Rewritten as SQL 2000 function.
Reworked to allow for delimiters > 1 character in length
and to convert Text values to numbers
2016-04-05 Added logic for date values based on "new" ISDATE() function, Updated to use XML approach, which is more efficient.
********************************************************************************
*/
BEGIN
DECLARE #w_xml xml;
SET #w_xml = N'<root><i>' + replace(#p_SourceText, #p_Delimeter,'</i><i>') + '</i></root>';
INSERT INTO #retTable
([Int_Value]
, [Num_Value]
, [Txt_Value]
, [Date_value]
)
SELECT CASE
WHEN ISNUMERIC([i].value('.', 'VARCHAR(MAX)')) = 1
THEN CAST(CAST([i].value('.', 'VARCHAR(MAX)') AS NUMERIC) AS INT)
END AS [Int_Value]
, CASE
WHEN ISNUMERIC([i].value('.', 'VARCHAR(MAX)')) = 1
THEN CAST([i].value('.', 'VARCHAR(MAX)') AS NUMERIC(18, 3))
END AS [Num_Value]
, [i].value('.', 'VARCHAR(MAX)') AS [txt_Value]
, CASE
WHEN ISDATE([i].value('.', 'VARCHAR(MAX)')) = 1
THEN CAST([i].value('.', 'VARCHAR(MAX)') AS DATETIME)
END AS [Num_Value]
FROM #w_xml.nodes('//root/i') AS [Items]([i]);
RETURN;
END;
GO

ALTER function get_occurance_index(#delimiter varchar(1),#occurence int,#String varchar(100))
returns int
AS Begin
--Declare #delimiter varchar(1)=',',#occurence int=2,#String varchar(100)='a,b,c'
Declare #result int
;with T as (
select 1 Rno,0 as row, charindex(#delimiter, #String) pos,#String st
union all
select Rno+1,pos + 1, charindex(#delimiter, #String, pos + 1), #String
from T
where pos > 0
)
select #result=pos
from T
where pos > 0 and rno = #occurence
return isnull(#result,0)
ENd
declare #data as table (data varchar(100))
insert into #data values('1,2,3')
insert into #data values('aaa,bbbbb,cccc')
select top 3 Substring (data,0,dbo.get_occurance_index( ',',1,data)) ,--First Record always starts with 0
Substring (data,dbo.get_occurance_index( ',',1,data)+1,dbo.get_occurance_index( ',',2,data)-dbo.get_occurance_index( ',',1,data)-1) ,
Substring (data,dbo.get_occurance_index( ',',2,data)+1,len(data)) , -- Last record cant be more than len of actual data
data
From #data

I found that using PARSENAME as above caused any name with a period to get nulled.
So if there was an initial or a title in the name followed by a dot they return NULL.
I found this worked for me:
SELECT
REPLACE(SUBSTRING(FullName, 1,CHARINDEX(',', FullName)), ',','') as Name,
REPLACE(SUBSTRING(FullName, CHARINDEX(',', FullName), LEN(FullName)), ',', '') as Surname
FROM Table1

it is so easy, you can take it by below query:
DECLARE #str NVARCHAR(MAX)='ControlID_05436b78-04ba-9667-fa01-9ff8c1b7c235,3'
SELECT LEFT(#str, CHARINDEX(',',#str)-1),RIGHT(#str,LEN(#str)-(CHARINDEX(',',#str)))

select distinct modelFileId,F4.*
from contract
cross apply (select XmlList=convert(xml, '<x>'+replace(modelFileId,';','</x><x>')+'</x>').query('.')) F2
cross apply (select mfid1=XmlNode.value('/x[1]','varchar(512)')
,mfid2=XmlNode.value('/x[2]','varchar(512)')
,mfid3=XmlNode.value('/x[3]','varchar(512)')
,mfid4=XmlNode.value('/x[4]','varchar(512)') from XmlList.nodes('x') F3(XmlNode)) F4
where modelFileId like '%;%'
order by modelFileId

Select distinct PROJ_UID,PROJ_NAME,RES_UID from E2E_ProjectWiseTimesheetActuals
where CHARINDEX(','+cast(PROJ_UID as varchar(8000))+',', #params) > 0 and CHARINDEX(','+cast(RES_UID as varchar(8000))+',', #res) > 0

I re-wrote an answer above and made it better:
CREATE FUNCTION [dbo].[CSVParser]
(
#s VARCHAR(255),
#idx NUMERIC
)
RETURNS VARCHAR(12)
BEGIN
DECLARE #comma int
SET #comma = CHARINDEX(',', #s)
WHILE 1=1
BEGIN
IF #comma=0
IF #idx=1
RETURN #s
ELSE
RETURN ''
IF #idx=1
BEGIN
DECLARE #word VARCHAR(12)
SET #word=LEFT(#s, #comma - 1)
RETURN #word
END
SET #s = RIGHT(#s,LEN(#s)-#comma)
SET #comma = CHARINDEX(',', #s)
SET #idx = #idx - 1
END
RETURN 'not used'
END
Example usage:
SELECT dbo.CSVParser(COLUMN, 1),
dbo.CSVParser(COLUMN, 2),
dbo.CSVParser(COLUMN, 3)
FROM TABLE

question is simple, but problem is hot :)
So I create some wrapper for string_split() which pivot result in more generic way. It's table function which returns values (nn, value1, value2, ... , value50) - enough for most CSV lines. If there are more values, they will wrap to next line - nn indicate line number. Set third parameter #columnCnt = [yourNumber] to wrap at specific position:
alter FUNCTION fn_Split50
(
#str varchar(max),
#delim char(1),
#columnCnt int = 50
)
RETURNS TABLE
AS
RETURN
(
SELECT *
FROM (SELECT
nn = (nn - 1) / #columnCnt + 1,
nnn = 'value' + cast(((nn - 1) % #columnCnt) + 1 as varchar(10)),
value
FROM (SELECT
nn = ROW_NUMBER() over (order by (select null)),
value
FROM string_split(#str, #delim) aa
) aa
where nn > 0
) bb
PIVOT
(
max(value)
FOR nnn IN (
value1, value2, value3, value4, value5, value6, value7, value8, value9, value10,
value11, value12, value13, value14, value15, value16, value17, value18, value19, value20,
value21, value22, value23, value24, value25, value26, value27, value28, value29, value30,
value31, value32, value33, value34, value35, value36, value37, value38, value39, value40,
value41, value42, value43, value44, value45, value46, value47, value48, value49, value50
)
) AS PivotTable
)
Example of using:
select * from dbo.fn_split50('zz1,aa2,ss3,dd4,ff5', ',', DEFAULT)
select * from dbo.fn_split50('zz1,aa2,ss3,dd4,ff5,gg6,hh7,jj8,ww9,qq10', ',', 3)
select * from dbo.fn_split50('zz1,11,aa2,22,ss3,33,dd4,44,ff5,55,gg6,66,hh7,77,jj8,88,ww9,99,qq10,1010', ',',2)
Hope, it will helps :)

SQL Patindex / Regex - Match where there are 4 or less characters between 2 apostrophes

I have the following string:
'Siemens','Simatic','Microbox','PC','27','6ES7677AA200PA0','6ES7','677AA200PA0'
I want to remove any "terms" that are less than 5 characters. So in this case I'd like to remove 'PC', '27' and '6ES7'.
Which would result in:
'Siemens','Simatic','Microbox','6ES7677AA200PA0','677AA200PA0'
This is in SQL server and I have a function that accepts a regex command, so far it looks like this:
SELECT dbo.fn_StripCharacters(title, '/^''PC''$/')
I tried to hardcode to remove 'PC' but I think its removing all apostrophes, and 'P' and 'C' characters:
Siemens,Simati,Mirobox,,427B,6ES76477AA200A0,6ES7,6477AA200A0
This is the function I'm using:
CREATE FUNCTION [dbo].[fn_StripCharacters]
(
#String NVARCHAR(MAX),
#MatchExpression VARCHAR(255)
)
RETURNS NVARCHAR(MAX)
AS
BEGIN
SET #MatchExpression = '%['+#MatchExpression+']%'
WHILE PatIndex(#MatchExpression, #String) > 0
SET #String = Stuff(#String, PatIndex(#MatchExpression, #String), 1, '')
RETURN #String
END

If you don't care about the particular order of the words which are retained after filtering off words 4 characters or less, you could use STRING_SPLIT and STRING_AGG:
WITH cte AS (
SELECT id, value
FROM yourTable
CROSS APPLY STRING_SPLIT(val, ',')
)
SELECT id, STRING_AGG(value, ',') AS val
FROM cte
WHERE LEN(value) > 6
GROUP BY id;
Demo

Remove unwanted characters from a string with SQL

I tried a query to get the below result from a string. But its not showing the accurate result.
String: ty-R
Desired Output: ty
String: tuy-R
Desired Output: tuy
I tried using replace function. But I am unable to remove the next hyphen as I have to use the first one.
DECLARE #str NVARCHAR(MAX);
DECLARE #lpcounter INT;
SET #str = 'ty-R ';
SET #lpcounter = 0;
WHILE #lpcounter <= 26
BEGIN
SET #str = REPLACE(#str, CHAR(65 + #lpcounter), '');
SET #lpcounter = #lpcounter + 1;
END;
SELECT #str;
Can this be done through a query only?

Here you go
WITH C AS
(
SELECT REPLACE(
TRANSLATE(V, 'ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ', REPLICATE(' ', 26) --Or SPACE(26)
)
, ' ', '') Res
FROM
(
VALUES
('8-R1-WEL'),
('276-R1E')
) T(V)
)
SELECT CASE WHEN RIGHT(Res, 1) = '-'
THEN LEFT(Res, LEN(Res) -1)
ELSE Res
END Result
FROM C;
Demo
Finally, I would recommend doing string manipulation using a other programming language instead of doing it in the database.

This returns the values that you specify in the question:
select str, replace(left(str, charindex('-', str) + 2), 'R', '')
from (values ('8-R1-WEL'), ('276-R1E')) v(str);
You haven't expressed the logic, so this does the following:
Take the first two substrings separated by hyphens.
Remove the "R".

Here is one method using patindex to find alpha characters in the string, iterate over that string and then use the length of the string to form a loop to remove these.
DECLARE #str NVARCHAR(MAX);
DECLARE #replacestring nvarchar(max);
declare #stop int = 0;
SET #str = '276-R1E';
select #stop=len(#str);
while #stop>0
begin
select #replacestring = substring(#Str, patindex('%[a-z]%', #str), 1);
select #str = replace(#str,#replacestring, '');
select #stop-=1;
end
SELECT #str;

I like #Sami's TRANSLATE Solution which, if I were on SQL Server 2017+, I would likely use. Another efficient option would be to use PatExclude8K (DDL included below).
-- Sample Data
DECLARE #table TABLE (string VARCHAR(1000));
INSERT #table VALUES ('8-R1-WEL'),('276-R1E')
-- Solution
SELECT
OldString = t.string,
NewString = IIF(f.NewString LIKE '%-',SUBSTRING(f.NewString,0,LEN(f.NewString)),f.NewString)
FROM #table AS t
CROSS APPLY dbo.PatExclude8K(t.string,'[^0-9-]') AS f;
Results:
OldString NewString
------------ -------------
8-R1-WEL 8-1
276-R1E 276-1
PatExclude8K code:
CREATE FUNCTION dbo.PatExclude8K
(
#String VARCHAR(8000),
#Pattern VARCHAR(50)
)
/*******************************************************************************
Purpose:
Given a string (#String) and a pattern (#Pattern) of characters to remove,
remove the patterned characters from the string.
Usage:
--===== Basic Syntax Example
SELECT CleanedString
FROM dbo.PatExclude8K(#String,#Pattern);
--===== Remove all but Alpha characters
SELECT CleanedString
FROM dbo.SomeTable st
CROSS APPLY dbo.PatExclude8K(st.SomeString,'%[^A-Za-z]%');
--===== Remove all but Numeric digits
SELECT CleanedString
FROM dbo.SomeTable st
CROSS APPLY dbo.PatExclude8K(st.SomeString,'%[^0-9]%');
Programmer Notes:
1. #Pattern is not case sensitive (the function can be easily modified to make it so)
2. There is no need to include the "%" before and/or after your pattern since since we
are evaluating each character individually
Revision History:
Rev 00 - 10/27/2014 Initial Development - Alan Burstein
Rev 01 - 10/29/2014 Mar 2007 - Alan Burstein
- Redesigned based on the dbo.STRIP_NUM_EE by Eirikur Eiriksson
(see: http://www.sqlservercentral.com/Forums/Topic1585850-391-2.aspx)
- change how the cte tally table is created
- put the include/exclude logic in a CASE statement instead of a WHERE clause
- Added Latin1_General_BIN Colation
- Add code to use the pattern as a parameter.
Rev 02 - 11/6/2014
- Added final performane enhancement (more cudo's to Eirikur Eiriksson)
- Put 0 = PATINDEX filter logic into the WHERE clause
Rev 03 - 5/16/2015
- Updated code to deal with special XML characters
*******************************************************************************/
RETURNS TABLE WITH SCHEMABINDING AS
RETURN
WITH
E1(N) AS (SELECT N FROM (VALUES (NULL),(NULL),(NULL),(NULL),(NULL),(NULL),(NULL),(NULL),(NULL),(NULL)) AS X(N)),
itally(N) AS
(
SELECT TOP(CONVERT(INT,LEN(#String),0)) ROW_NUMBER() OVER (ORDER BY (SELECT NULL))
FROM E1 T1 CROSS JOIN E1 T2 CROSS JOIN E1 T3 CROSS JOIN E1 T4
)
SELECT NewString =
((
SELECT SUBSTRING(#String,N,1)
FROM iTally
WHERE 0 = PATINDEX(#Pattern,SUBSTRING(#String COLLATE Latin1_General_BIN,N,1))
FOR XML PATH(''),TYPE
).value('(text())[1]','varchar(8000)'));
GO

SQL: problem word count with len()

I am trying to count words of text that is written in a column of table. Therefor I am using the following query.
SELECT LEN(ExtractedText) -
LEN(REPLACE(ExtractedText, ' ', '')) + 1 from EDDSDBO.Document where ID='100'.
I receive a wrong result that is much to high.
On the other hand, if I copy the text directly into the statement then it works, i.e.
SELECT LEN('blablabla text') - LEN(REPLACE('blablabla text', ' ', '')) + 1.
Now the datatype is nvarchar(max) since the text is very long. I have already tried to convert the column into text or ntext and to apply datalength() instead of len(). Nevertheless I obtain the same result that it does work as a string but does not work from a table.

You're counting spaces not words. That will typically yield an approximate answer.
e.g.
' this string will give an incorrect result '
Try this approach: http://www.sql-server-helper.com/functions/count-words.aspx
CREATE FUNCTION [dbo].[WordCount] ( #InputString VARCHAR(4000) )
RETURNS INT
AS
BEGIN
DECLARE #Index INT
DECLARE #Char CHAR(1)
DECLARE #PrevChar CHAR(1)
DECLARE #WordCount INT
SET #Index = 1
SET #WordCount = 0
WHILE #Index <= LEN(#InputString)
BEGIN
SET #Char = SUBSTRING(#InputString, #Index, 1)
SET #PrevChar = CASE WHEN #Index = 1 THEN ' '
ELSE SUBSTRING(#InputString, #Index - 1, 1)
END
IF #PrevChar = ' ' AND #Char != ' '
SET #WordCount = #WordCount + 1
SET #Index = #Index + 1
END
RETURN #WordCount
END
GO
usage
DECLARE #String VARCHAR(4000)
SET #String = 'Health Insurance is an insurance against expenses incurred through illness of the insured.'
SELECT [dbo].[WordCount] ( #String )

Leading spaces, trailing spaces, two or more spaces between the neighbouring words – these are the likely causes of the wrong results you are getting.
The functions LTRIM() and RTRIM() can help you eliminate the first two issues. As for the third one, you can use REPLACE(ExtractedText, ' ', ' ') to replace double spaces with single ones, but I'm not sure if you do not have triple ones (in which case you'd need to repeat the replacing).
UPDATE
Here's a UDF that uses CTEs and ranking to eliminate extra spaces and then counts the remaining ones to return the quantity as the number of words:
CREATE FUNCTION fnCountWords (#Str varchar(max))
RETURNS int
AS BEGIN
DECLARE #xml xml, #res int;
SET #Str = RTRIM(LTRIM(#Str));
WITH split AS (
SELECT
idx = number,
chr = SUBSTRING(#Str, number, 1)
FROM master..spt_values
WHERE type = 'P'
AND number BETWEEN 1 AND LEN(#Str)
),
ranked AS (
SELECT
idx,
chr,
rnk = idx - ROW_NUMBER() OVER (PARTITION BY chr ORDER BY idx)
FROM split
)
SELECT #res = COUNT(DISTINCT rnk) + 1
FROM ranked
WHERE chr = ' ';
RETURN #res;
END
With this function your query will be simply like this:
SELECT fnCountWords(ExtractedText)
FROM EDDSDBO.Document
WHERE ID='100'
UPDATE 2
The function uses one of the system tables, master..spt_values, as a tally table. The particular subset used contains only values from 0 to 2047. This means the function will not work correctly for inputs longer than 2047 characters (after trimming both leading and trailing spaces), as #t-clausen.dk has correctly noted in his comment. Therefore, a custom tally table should be used if longer input strings are possible.

Replace the spaces with something that never occur in your text like ' $!' or pick another value.
then replace all '$! ' and '$!' with nothing this way you never have more than 1 space after a word. Then use your current script. I have defined a word as a space followed by a non-space.
This is an example
DECLARE #T TABLE(COL1 NVARCHAR(2000), ID INT)
INSERT #T VALUES('A B C D', 100)
SELECT LEN(C) - LEN(REPLACE(C,' ', '')) COUNT FROM (
SELECT REPLACE(REPLACE(REPLACE(' ' + COL1, ' ', ' $!'), '$! ',''), '$!', '') C
FROM #T ) A
Here is a recursive solution
DECLARE #T TABLE(COL1 NVARCHAR(2000), ID INT)
INSERT #T VALUES('A B C D', 100)
INSERT #T VALUES('have a nice day with 7 words', 100)
;WITH CTE AS
(
SELECT 1 words, col1 c, col1 FROM #t WHERE id = 100
UNION ALL
SELECT words +1, right(c, len(c) - patindex('% [^ ]%', c)), col1 FROM cte
WHERE patindex('% [^ ]%', c) > 0
)
SELECT words, col1 FROM cte WHERE patindex('% [^ ]%', c) = 0

You should declare the column using the varchar data type, like:
create table emp(ename varchar(22));
insert into emp values('amit');
select ename,len(ename) from emp;
output : 4

Remove the last character in a string in T-SQL?

How do I remove the last character in a string in T-SQL?
For example:
'TEST STRING'
to return:
'TEST STRIN'

e.g.
DECLARE #String VARCHAR(100)
SET #String = 'TEST STRING'
-- Chop off the end character
SET #String =
CASE #String WHEN null THEN null
ELSE (
CASE LEN(#String) WHEN 0 THEN #String
ELSE LEFT(#String, LEN(#String) - 1)
END
) END
SELECT #String

If for some reason your column logic is complex (case when ... then ... else ... end), then the above solutions causes you to have to repeat the same logic in the len() function. Duplicating the same logic becomes a mess. If this is the case then this is a solution worth noting. This example gets rid of the last unwanted comma. I finally found a use for the REVERSE function.
select reverse(stuff(reverse('a,b,c,d,'), 1, 1, ''))

Try this:
select substring('test string', 1, (len('test string') - 1))

If your string is empty,
DECLARE #String VARCHAR(100)
SET #String = ''
SELECT LEFT(#String, LEN(#String) - 1)
then this code will cause error message 'Invalid length parameter passed to the substring function.'
You can handle it this way:
SELECT LEFT(#String, NULLIF(LEN(#String)-1,-1))
It will always return result, and NULL in case of empty string.

This will work even when source text/var is null or empty:
SELECT REVERSE(SUBSTRING(REVERSE(#a), 2, 9999))

select left('TEST STRING', len('TEST STRING')-1)

#result = substring(#result, 1, (LEN(#result)-1))

This is quite late, but interestingly never mentioned yet.
select stuff(x,len(x),1,'')
ie:
take a string x
go to its last character
remove one character
add nothing

If your coloumn is text and not varchar, then you can use this:
SELECT SUBSTRING(#String, 1, NULLIF(DATALENGTH(#String)-1,-1))

If you want to do this in two steps, rather than the three of REVERSE-STUFF-REVERSE, you can have your list separator be one or two spaces. Then use RTRIM to trim the trailing spaces, and REPLACE to replace the double spaces with ','
select REPLACE(RTRIM('a b c d '),' ', ', ')
However, this is not a good idea if your original string can contain internal spaces.
Not sure about performance. Each REVERSE creates a new copy of the string, but STUFF is a third faster than REPLACE.
also see this

I can suggest this -hack- ;).
select
left(txt, abs(len(txt + ',') - 2))
from
t;
SQL Server Fiddle Demo

you can create function
CREATE FUNCTION [dbo].[TRUNCRIGHT] (#string NVARCHAR(max), #len int = 1)
RETURNS NVARCHAR(max)
AS
BEGIN
IF LEN(#string)<#len
RETURN ''
RETURN LEFT(#string, LEN(#string) - #len)
END

Get the last character
Right(#string, len(#String) - (len(#String) - 1))

Try this
DECLARE #String VARCHAR(100)
SET #String = 'TEST STRING'
SELECT LEFT(#String, LEN(#String) - 1) AS MyTrimmedColumn

I encountered this problem and this way my problem was solved:
Declare #name as varchar(30)='TEST STRING'
Select left(#name, len(#name)-1) as AfterRemoveLastCharacter

My answer is similar to the accepted answer, but it also check for Null and Empty String.
DECLARE #String VARCHAR(100)
SET #String = 'asdfsdf1'
-- If string is null return null, else if string is empty return as it is, else chop off the end character
SET #String = Case #String when null then null else (case LEN(#String) when 0 then #String else LEFT(#String, LEN(#String) - 1) end ) end
SELECT #String

declare #string varchar(20)= 'TEST STRING'
Select left(#string, len(#string)-1) as Tada
output:
Tada
--------------------
TEST STRIN

I love #bill-hoenig 's answer; however, I was using a subquery and I got caught up because the REVERSE function needed two sets of parentheses. Took me a while to figure that one out!
SELECT
-- Return comma delimited list of all payment reasons for this Visit
REVERSE(STUFF(REVERSE((
SELECT DISTINCT
CAST(CONVERT(varchar, r1.CodeID) + ' - ' + c.Name + ', ' AS VARCHAR(MAX))
FROM VisitReason r1
LEFT JOIN ReasonCode c ON c.ID = r1.ReasonCodeID
WHERE p.ID = r1.PaymentID
FOR XML PATH('')
)), 1, 2, '')) ReasonCode
FROM Payments p

To update the record by trimming the last N characters of a particular column:
UPDATE tablename SET columnName = LEFT(columnName , LEN(columnName )-N) where clause

Try It :
DECLARE #String NVARCHAR(100)
SET #String = '12354851'
SELECT LEFT(#String, NULLIF(LEN(#String)-1,-1))

declare #x varchar(20),#y varchar(20)
select #x='sam'
select
case when #x is null then #y
when #y is null then #x
else #x+','+#y
end
go
declare #x varchar(20),#y varchar(20)
select #x='sam'
--,#y='john'
DECLARE #listStr VARCHAR(MAX)
SELECT #listStr = COALESCE(#x + ', ' ,'') +coalesce(#y+',','')
SELECT left(#listStr,len(#listStr)-1)

Try this,
DECLARE #name NVARCHAR(MAX) SET #name='xxxxTHAMIZHMANI****'SELECT Substring(#name, 5, (len(#name)-8)) as UserNames
And the output will be like, THAMIZHMANI