I'm having a table Employee, in that some values are started with ", ". So, I need to remove the comma and white-space at the beginning of the name at the time of SELECT query using LTRIM() - SQL-Server.
My Table : Employee
CREATE TABLE Employee
(
PersonID int,
ContactName varchar(255),
Address varchar(255),
City varchar(255)
);
INSERT INTO Employee(PersonID, ContactName, Address, City)
VALUES ('1001',', B. Bala','21, Car Street','Bangalore');
SELECT PersonID, ContactName, Address, City FROM Employee
Here the ContactName Column has a value ", B. Bala". I need to remove the comma and white-space at the beginning of the name.
Alas, SQL Server does not support the ANSI standard functionality of specifying the characters for LTRIM().
In this case, you can use:
(case when ContactName like ', %' then stuff(ContactName, 1, 2, '')
else ContactName
end)
You could potentially use PATINDEX() in order to get this done.
DECLARE #Text VARCHAR(50) = ', Well Crap';
SELECT STUFF(#Text, 1, PATINDEX('%[A-z]%', #Text) - 1, '');
This would output Well Crap. PATINDEX() will find first letter in your word and cut everything before it.
It works fine even if there's no leading rubbish:
DECLARE #Text VARCHAR(50) = 'Mister Roboto';
SELECT STUFF(#Text, 1, PATINDEX('%[A-z]%', #Text) - 1, '');
This outputs Mister Roboto
If there are no valid characters, let's say ContactName is , 9132124, :::, this would output NULL, if you'd like to get blank result, you can use COALESCE():
DECLARE #Text VARCHAR(50) = ', 9132124, :::';
SELECT COALESCE(STUFF(#Text, 1, PATINDEX('%[A-z]%', #Text) - 1, ''), '');
This will output an empty string.
You could also use REPLACE.....
eg.
REPLACE( ' ,Your String with space comma', ' ,', '')
UPDATE dbo.Employee
SET
dbo.Employee.ContactName = replace(LEFT(ContactName, 2),', ','')
+ SUBSTRING (ContactName, 3, len(contactname))
where LEFT(ContactName, 2)=', '
This will only update where first two character contains ', '
Related
I cannot seem to find an existing post on splitting a string into the parts I require. I have a database field in SQL Server that contains the "LastName FirstName MI" (no commas just spaces delimiting each part of a person's name). I have the following SQL to get the FirstName and Last, but cannot figure out how to get the Middle Initial or Middle Name.
Ex. Doe John B
SELECT
RTRIM(LEFT([PATIENT_NAME], CHARINDEX(' ', [PATIENT_NAME]))) AS LastName,
SUBSTRING([PATIENT_NAME], CHARINDEX(' ', [PATIENT_NAME]) + 1, LEN([PATIENT_NAME])) AS FirstName
FROM
Clients
Results in:
FirstName = John B
LastName = Doe
How to just return the first name without the middle initial and get the 'B' as middle name from this string in this SELECT statement?
You can either take the right 1 character, or reverse the string the take the first char.
SELECT RIGHT(LTRIM(RTRIM([Patient_Name])), 1) AS Middle_Initial
SELECT LEFT(REVERSE(LTRIM(RTRIM([Patient_Name]))), 1) AS Middle_Initial
As for removing MI from your firstname string, I would either find the length of the string and take the left N-2 chars or I would charindex the space and then take that many chars. To put it all together:
DECLARE #name VARCHAR(100) = 'Smith David M '
--Clean the string of leading/trailing whitespace
SELECT LTRIM(RTRIM(#name)) AS name_cleaned
--Find the first space to parse out the last name
SELECT CHARINDEX(' ', #name) AS first_space
--Select all chars before the first space
SELECT LEFT(LTRIM(RTRIM(#name)), CHARINDEX(' ', #name)-1) AS last_name
--Find the next space, use the starting location as the previous space and add 1
SELECT CHARINDEX(' ', #name, 7) AS second_space
--Select all chars between the spaces
SELECT SUBSTRING(#name, CHARINDEX(' ', #name)+1, CHARINDEX(' ', #name, 7) - CHARINDEX(' ', #name)) AS first_name
--Select the right most char for middle initial
SELECT RIGHT(LTRIM(RTRIM(#name)), 1) AS middle
You can REPLACE the space characters with period characters (.) and use PARSENAME().
Note that this would work for all 3 parts of the name, not just the middle initial.
When using the CHARINDEX on the last name, you'll use it as the length of the substring. Then, on the FirstName, use it again as start position on the substring. Now, the trick on the Middle, on the CHARINDEX, you have to include the start position which will be the LEN minus the LastName CHARINDEX. this would gives you the second space which is the position you want to start with for taking the Middle Name.
See the example below :
DECLARE #tb TABLE (PATIENT_NAME varchar(250));
INSERT INTO #tb VALUES
('Doe John B')
DECLARE
#LastName INT
, #Middle INT
SELECT
#LastName = CHARINDEX(' ', PATIENT_NAME)
, #Middle = CHARINDEX(' ', PATIENT_NAME, LEN(PATIENT_NAME) - CHARINDEX(' ', PATIENT_NAME))
FROM #tb
SELECT
SUBSTRING(PATIENT_NAME, 1, #LastName) LastName
, SUBSTRING(PATIENT_NAME, #LastName, LEN(PATIENT_NAME) - #LastName) FirstName
, SUBSTRING(PATIENT_NAME, #Middle, LEN(PATIENT_NAME) - #Middle + 1 ) Middle
FROM #tb
I have declared some variables to make things much readable, but you can do it without them.
Surely, LEFT and RIGHT are the easier approaches on taking the lastname and Middle Name. Along with using some helper functions such as REVERSE and TRIM, but I would prefer PARSENAME as a simpler and cleaner approach.
Here is an example :
SELECT
PARSENAME(REPLACE(PATIENT_NAME,' ','.'),3) LastName
, PARSENAME(REPLACE(PATIENT_NAME,' ','.'),2) FirstName
, PARSENAME(REPLACE(PATIENT_NAME,' ','.'),1) Middle
Since the number of elements you must extract from your string is fixed(3) you can use XML based split:
DECLARE #clients TABLE (PATIENT_NAME nvarchar(max));
INSERT INTO #clients VALUES
(' Doe John B ')
,(' Doe Jane C ')
,(' Doe Jill ')
;WITH Splitted
AS (
SELECT PATIENT_NAME as ORIGINAL_PATIENT_NAME
,REPLACE(REPLACE(REPLACE(ltrim(rtrim(PATIENT_NAME)),' ','<>'),'><',''),'<>',' ') as PATIENT_NAME
,CAST('<x>' + REPLACE(REPLACE(REPLACE(REPLACE(ltrim(rtrim(PATIENT_NAME)),' ','<>'),'><',''),'<>',' '), ' ', '</x><x>') + '</x>' AS XML) AS Parts
FROM #clients
)
SELECT
ORIGINAL_PATIENT_NAME
,PATIENT_NAME
,Parts.value(N'/x[1]', 'nvarchar(max)') AS LAST_NAME
,Parts.value(N'/x[2]', 'nvarchar(max)') AS FIRST_NAME
,Parts.value(N'/x[3]', 'nvarchar(max)') AS MIDDLE_NAME
FROM Splitted
Results:
As you can see it works even with random-spaced names.
Assuming I have a table full of names.
firstname.lastname in a single cell.
How can I seperate these into "Firstname Lastname", with uppercase for the first letters? Using TSQL
Sample:
mike.mikeson -> Mike Mikeson
katy.lumberjack -> Katy Lumberjack
One of those times we can use the ParseName function for our benefit ;-)
SELECT original_value
, forename
, surname
, Upper(SubString(forename, 1, 1)) + Lower(Substring(forename, 2, 8000)) AS formatted_forename
, Upper(SubString(surname , 1, 1)) + Lower(Substring(surname , 2, 8000)) AS formatted_surname
FROM (
SELECT name AS original_value
, ParseName(name, 2) AS forename
, ParseName(name, 1) AS surname
FROM (
VALUES ('mike.mikeson')
, ('katy.lumberjack')
) AS users (name)
) AS step1
The below will answer you question as is but as comments have pointed out, you may need to also take into account names that have more than one uppercase letter in either part, such as Mary-Anne McDonald, or those that simply don't conform to your convention.
declare #a table (Name nvarchar(50))
insert into #a values
('fred.bloggs')
,('john.doe')
,('alan.smith')
select Name
,upper(left(Name,1))
+ substring(Name,2,charindex('.',Name,1)-2)
+ ' '
+ upper(substring(Name,charindex('.',Name,1)+1,1))
+ right(Name,len(Name) - charindex('.',Name,1)-1)
as FormattedName
from #a
You can try using concat and substring for this as below
declare #name varchar(50) = 'firstname.lastname'
select case when charindex('.',#name) > 0 then concat(upper(left(#name,1)), substring(#name,2,charindex('.',#name)-2), ' ', upper(substring(#name,charindex('.',#name)+1,1)), substring(#name,charindex('.',#name)+2, len(#name)))
else concat(upper(left(#name,1)), substring(#name,2,len(#name))) end
Ok so I have a table called PEOPLE that has a name column. In the name column is a name, but its totally a mess. For some reason its not listed such as last, first middle. It's sitting like last,first,middle and last first (and middle if there) are separated by a comma.. two commas if the person has a middle name.
example:
smith,steve
smith,steve,j
smith,ryan,tom
I'd like the second comma taken away (for parsing reason ) spaces put after existing first comma so the above would come out looking like:
smith, steve
smith, steve j
smith, ryan tom
Ultimately I'd like to be able to parse the names into first, middle, and last name fields, but that's for another post :_0. I appreciate any help.
thank you.
Drop table T1;
Create table T1(Name varchar(100));
Insert T1 Values
('smith,steve'),
('smith,steve,j'),
('smith,ryan,tom');
UPDATE T1
SET Name=
CASE CHARINDEX(',',name, CHARINDEX(',',name)+1) WHEN
0 THEN Name
ELSE
LEFT(name,CHARINDEX(',',name, CHARINDEX(',',name)+1)-1)+' ' +
RIGHT(name,LEN(Name)-CHARINDEX(',',name, CHARINDEX(',',name)+1))
END
Select * from T1
This seems to work. Not the most concise but avoids cursors.
DECLARE #people TABLE (name varchar(50))
INSERT INTO #people
SELECT 'smith,steve'
UNION
SELECT 'smith,steve,j'
UNION
SELECT 'smith,ryan,tom'
UNION
SELECT 'commaless'
SELECT name,
CASE
WHEN CHARINDEX(',',name) > 0 THEN
CASE
WHEN CHARINDEX(',',name,CHARINDEX(',',name) + 1) > 0 THEN
STUFF(STUFF(name, CHARINDEX(',',name,CHARINDEX(',',name) + 1), 1, ' '),CHARINDEX(',',name),1,', ')
ELSE
STUFF(name,CHARINDEX(',',name),1,', ')
END
ELSE name
END AS name2
FROM #people
Using a table function to split apart the names with a delimiter and for XML Path to stitch them back together, we can get what you're looking for! Hope this helps!
Declare #People table(FullName varchar(200))
Insert Into #People Values ('smith,steve')
Insert Into #People Values ('smith,steve,j')
Insert Into #People Values ('smith,ryan,tom')
Insert Into #People Values ('smith,john,joseph Jr')
Select p.*,stuff(fn.FullName,1,2,'') as ModifiedFullName
From #People p
Cross Apply (
select
Case When np.posID<=2 Then ', ' Else ' ' End+np.Val
From #People n
Cross Apply Custom.SplitValues(n.FullName,',') np
Where n.FullName=p.FullName
For XML Path('')
) fn(FullName)
Output:
ModifiedFullName
smith, steve
smith, steve j
smith, ryan tom
smith, john joseph Jr
SplitValues table function definition:
/*
This Function takes a delimited list of values and returns a table containing
each individual value and its position.
*/
CREATE FUNCTION [Custom].[SplitValues]
(
#List varchar(max)
, #Delimiter varchar(1)
)
RETURNS
#ValuesTable table
(
posID int
,val varchar(1000)
)
AS
BEGIN
WITH Cte AS
(
SELECT CAST('<v>' + REPLACE(#List, #Delimiter, '</v><v>') + '</v>' AS XML) AS val
)
INSERT #ValuesTable (posID,val)
SELECT row_number() over(Order By x) as posID, RTRIM(LTRIM(Split.x.value('.', 'VARCHAR(1000)'))) AS val
FROM Cte
CROSS APPLY val.nodes('/v') Split(x)
RETURN
END
GO
String manipulation in SQLServer, outside of writing your own User Defined Function, is limited but you can use the PARSENAME function for your purposes here. It takes a string, splits it on the period character, and returns the segment you specify.
Try this:
DECLARE #name VARCHAR(100) = 'smith,ryan,tom'
SELECT REVERSE(PARSENAME(REPLACE(REVERSE(#name), ',', '.'), 1)) + ', ' +
REVERSE(PARSENAME(REPLACE(REVERSE(#name), ',', '.'), 2)) +
COALESCE(' ' + REVERSE(PARSENAME(REPLACE(REVERSE(#name), ',', '.'), 3)), '')
Result: smith, ryan tom
If you set #name to 'smith,steve' instead, you'll get:
Result: smith, steve
Segment 1 actually gives you the last segment, segment 2 the second to last etc. Hence I've used REVERSE to get the order you want. In the case of 'steve,smith', segment 3 will be null, hence the COALESCE to add an empty string if that is the case. The REPLACE of course changes the commas to periods so that the split will work.
Note that this is a bit of a hack. PARSENAME will not work if there are more than four parts and this will fail if the name happens to contain a period. However if your data conforms to these limitations, hopefully it provides you with a solution.
Caveat: it sounds like your data may be inconsistently formatted. In that case, applying any automated treatment to it is going to be risky. However, you could try:
UPDATE people SET name = REPLACE(name, ',', ' ')
UPDATE people SET name = LEFT(name, CHARINDEX(' ', name)-1)+ ', '
+ RIGHT(name, LEN(name) - CHARINDEX(' ', name)
That'll work for the three examples you give. What it will do to the rest of your set is another question.
Here's an example with CHARINDEX() and SUBSTRING
WITH yourTable
AS
(
SELECT names
FROM
(
VALUES ('smith,steve'),('smith,steve,j'),('smith,ryan,tom')
) A(names)
)
SELECT names AS old,
CASE
WHEN comma > 0
THEN SUBSTRING(spaced_names,0,comma + 1) --before the comma
+ SUBSTRING(spaced_names,comma + 2,1000) --after the comma
ELSE spaced_names
END AS new
FROM yourTable
CROSS APPLY(SELECT CHARINDEX(',',names,CHARINDEX(',',names) + 1),REPLACE(names,',',', ')) AS CA(comma,spaced_names)
I am able to extract the first word from a string, using ANSI SQL, like this:
SELECT SUBSTRING(name FROM 1 FOR POSITION(' ' IN name)) AS first_name
However, if the original string is only one word long (ie, if there is no space), it returns an empty substring.
How can the above query be adapted to solve this problem?
Thanks in advance.
I'm sure there is a cleaner way to do it, but this works.
DECLARE #tbl TABLE (i varchar(100));
INSERT INTO #tbl ( i )
VALUES ('hello'), ('hello space here');
SELECT *,
SUBSTRING(i, 0, CASE CHARINDEX(' ', i)
WHEN 0 THEN LEN(i) + 1
ELSE CHARINDEX(' ', i)
END)
FROM #tbl
Simply but messy solution - add a space on the end:
SELECT SUBSTRING((name || ' ') FROM 1 FOR POSITION(' ' IN (name || ' '))) AS first_name
Use a conditional if statement.
For a MySQL/SQL Server answer:
SELECT IF(INSTR(name, ' ') >0, LEFT(name, INSTR(name, ' ') - 1), name) AS firstname
For Oracle:
SELECT IF(INSTRB(name, ' ', 1, 1) >0, SUBSTR(name, 1, INSTRB(name, ' ', 1, 1) - 1), name) AS firstname
I personally prefer the Regexp query for this, but below query also works.
You basically append a space at the end of the string and search for the position of the space using INSTR.
ORACLE:
select substr(Var1, 0,INSTR(Var1||' ',' ')) from table-name;
Replace Var1 with the column-name or string you are evaluating.
Put Column Name in place of #foo
DECLARE #Foo VARCHAR(50) = 'One Two Three'
SELECT
CASE
--For One Word
WHEN CHARINDEX(' ', #Foo, 1) = 0 THEN #Foo
--For multi word
ELSE SUBSTRING(#Foo, 1, CHARINDEX(' ', #Foo, 1) - 1)
END
DECLARE #test VARCHAR(50) = 'One Two Three'
SELECT SUBSTRING(LTRIM(#test),1,(CHARINDEX(' ',LTRIM(#test) + ' ')-1))
you can use this to get the first word of a string.initcap
will get you the first letter capital.
SELECT SUBSTR(column_1, 1, INSTR(column_1, ' ', 1,1) ) FROM table_name WHERE column_1= initcap('your string');
I am having FullName column and I am extracting the First Name and last name using the following query
select SUBSTRING(FULL_NAME, 1, CHARINDEX(' ', FULL_NAME) - 1) AS FirstName,
SUBSTRING(FULL_NAME, CHARINDEX(' ', FULL_NAME) + 1, 500) AS LastName
from [dbo].[TABLE]
But in the Full Name column there are just First names, some 10 digit phone numbers, 4 digit extensions and some text like 'this is a special case'.
How should I modify my query to accommodate these exceptions? And also when there are only single words in the Full Name column I am getting this following error message:
"Invalid length parameter passed to the LEFT or SUBSTRING function."
Parsing good names from free form fields is not an easy task...
I would suggest a dual approach.
Identify common patterns, i.e. you might find phone number with something like this
Where IsNumeric( Replace(Field,'-','')=1
and you might identify single names with
Where charindex(' ',trim(field))=0
etc.
Once you've identified them, the write code to attempt to split them...
So you might use the code you have above with the following WHERE clause
select SUBSTRING(FULL_NAME, 1, CHARINDEX(' ', FULL_NAME) - 1) AS FirstName,
SUBSTRING(PRQ_BP_CONTACT_NAME, CHARINDEX(' ', FULL_NAME) + 1, 500)
AS LastN
from [dbo].[TABLE]
where charindex(' ',trim(field))>0 and Where IsNumeric( Replace(Field,'-','')=0
Use the WHERE clauses to (a) make sure you only get records you can parse and (b) help identify the oddball cases you'll like need to do by hand...
Good luck
You could go with a function this allows you to put in any logic you need in the transform and keep things a bit more readable :
create function dbo.namepart( #fullname varchar(50), #part varchar(5))
returns varchar(10)
as
begin
declare #first varchar(50)
declare #last varchar(50)
declare #sp int
if #fullname like '%special value%' return ''
if #fullname like '% %'
begin
set #sp = CHARINDEX(' ', #fullname)
set #first = left(#fullname, #sp - 1)
set #last = substring(#fullname,#sp + 1 ,50)
if isnumeric(#last) <> 0 set #last = ''
end
else
begin
set #first = #fullname
set #last = ''
end
if #part like 'f%'
return #first
else
return #last
return ''
end
Sample data
create table blah(
full_name varchar(50)
)
insert into blah values ( 'john smith' ), ('paul 12345'),('evan'),('special value')
And see if it works
select
dbo.namepart(full_name,'first') first,
dbo.namepart(full_name,'last') last,
full_name
from blah
http://sqlfiddle.com/#!6/eb28f/2