update special character columns dynamically for all columns of a table? - sql

Question

I want to replace special characters by normal characters in all columns dynamically for all columns of a table.But it works only for a column which is hardcoded
alter proc dbo.specialcharacterreplacer
#tblname varchar(1000),
#column_name varchar(1000)
as
begin
declare #Sql VARCHAR(MAX)
set #Sql = '
UPDATE ' + #tblname + ' SET ' + #column_name+ ' = REPLACE('+#column_name + ', ' + '''ó'''+ ', '+'''o'''+')
UPDATE ' + #tblname + ' SET ' + #column_name+ ' = REPLACE('+#column_name + ', ' + '''ò'''+ ', '+'''o'''+')
UPDATE ' + #tblname + ' SET ' + #column_name+ ' = REPLACE('+#column_name + ', ' + '''ö'''+ ', '+'''o'''+')
UPDATE ' + #tblname + ' SET ' + #column_name+ ' = REPLACE('+#column_name + ', ' + '''ð'''+ ', '+'''o'''+')
exec (#sql)
end
go
EXEC dbo.specialcharacterreplacer #tblname = 'dirtyyyysource', #column_name ='select *from INFORMATION_SCHEMA.COLUMNS where TABLE_NAME = '#tblname''
how to make columns dynamic?

Answer 1

This was the central code to get your update statement for all columns of a given table dynamically. Be aware of TABLE_SCHEMA and the column's type. You might use some additions in the WHERE part... (in my example you'd try to replace the INT column as well...)
And you might have a look here: https://stackoverflow.com/a/32048968/5089204
There you'll find one of my former answers to a similar question and shows an approach how to create a function which will replace several special characters in one go.
CREATE TABLE dbo.TestTable(ID INT,Test1 VARCHAR(100), Test2 VARCHAR(100));
GO
declare #tblname varchar(1000)='TestTable';
declare #tblschema varchar(1000)='dbo';
DECLARE #SqlCmd VARCHAR(MAX)= 'UPDATE ' + #tblname + ' SET ' +
(
STUFF(
(
SELECT ',' + COLUMN_NAME + ' = REPLACE(' + COLUMN_NAME + ', ' + '''ó'', ''o'''+')'+ CHAR(10) --might need to use CHAR(13)+CHAR(10)
FROM INFORMATION_SCHEMA.COLUMNS
WHERE TABLE_SCHEMA=#tblschema AND TABLE_NAME = #tblname
FOR XML PATH('')
),1,1,'') + ';'
);
SELECT #SqlCmd;
GO
DROP TABLE dbo.TestTable;
GO
The result:
UPDATE TestTable SET ID = REPLACE(ID, 'ó', 'o')
,Test1 = REPLACE(Test1, 'ó', 'o')
,Test2 = REPLACE(Test2, 'ó', 'o')
;