Check special character in sql view - sql

Question

Hi i am in fix for a particular scenario, i have a view which is created by joining multiple tables, the requirement is that i have to find whether the columns in that view will return special character.
SELECT SI.ShipmentId,
CASE
WHEN SA.AddressType = 1 THEN 'SH'
ELSE 'CN'
END AS AddressType,
SI.Pieces,
SI.PalletCount,
SI.Weight,
SI.UserDescription,
SI.Class,
SA.CompanyName,
SA.Street,
SA.City,
SA.State,
SA.ZipCode,
CASE
WHEN SA.Country = 1 THEN 'USA'
WHEN SA.Country = 2 THEN 'CANADA'
END AS Country,
SA.ContactPerson,
Cast(Replace(Replace(Replace(Replace(SA.Phone, ')', ''), '(', ''), '-', ''), ' ', '') AS VARCHAR(25)) AS Phone,
S.PoNo,
S.EstimatedDueDate,
Cast(S.ShipmentReadyTime AS VARCHAR(10)) AS ShipmentReadyTime,
Cast(S.ShipmentCloseTime AS VARCHAR(10)) AS ShipmentCloseTime,
B.BOLNumber,
S.HazMatEmergencyNo
FROM CarrierRate.Shipment AS S
INNER JOIN CarrierRate.BOL AS B
ON B.ShipmentId = S.ID
INNER JOIN CarrierRate.ShipmentItems AS SI
ON SI.ShipmentId = S.ID
INNER JOIN CarrierRate.ShipmentAddresses AS SA
ON SA.ShipmentId = S.ID
INNER JOIN CarrierRate.Carriers AS C
ON C.ID = S.CarrierId
WHERE ( SI.AccessorialId = 1 )
AND ( SA.AddressType IN ( 1, 2 ) )
This is that view, i just want to know what all columns will have special character as its data.
For E.g: i have SA.CompanyName as one of the column, i have to check whether that column can be filled with special characters?
Please let me know the probable solutions, i am clueless.

Answer 1

You need to look at the column types of the tables/columns/expressions which contribute to the columns of the view you are interested in. Assuming they are defined as some form of text or varchar then they CAN contain special characters, unless there exists some form of constraint on those columns/tables.