I'm asking this question for SQL Server 2008 R2
I'd like to know if there is a way to create multiple functions in a single batch statement.
I've made the following code as an example; suppose I want to take a character string and rearrange its letters in alphabetical order. So, 'Hello' would become 'eHllo'
CREATE FUNCTION char_split (#string varchar(max))
RETURNS #characters TABLE
(
chars varchar(2)
)
AS
BEGIN
DECLARE #length int,
#K int
SET #length = len(#string)
SET #K = 1
WHILE #K < #length+1
BEGIN
INSERT INTO #characters
SELECT SUBSTRING(#string,#K,1)
SET #K = #K+1
END
RETURN
END
CREATE FUNCTION rearrange (#string varchar(max))
RETURNS varchar(max)
AS
BEGIN
DECLARE #SplitData TABLE (
chars varchar(2)
)
INSERT INTO #SplitData SELECT * FROM char_split(#string)
DECLARE #Output varchar(max)
SELECT #Output = coalesce(#Output,' ') + cast(chars as varchar(10))
from #SplitData
order by chars asc
RETURN #Output
END
declare #string varchar(max)
set #string = 'Hello'
select dbo.rearrange(#string)
When I try running this code, I get this error:
'CREATE FUNCTION' must be the first statement in a query batch.
I tried enclosing each function in a BEGIN END block, but no luck. Any advice?
Just use a GO statement between the definition of the UDFs
Not doable. SImple like that.
YOu can make it is one statement using a GO between them.
But as the GO is a batch delimiter.... this means you send multiple batches, which is explicitly NOT Wanted in your question.
So, no - it is not possible to do that in one batch as the error clearly indicates.
Related
I have problem in optimizing an SQL query to do some data cleansing.
In fact, I have a table which is a sort of referential of a multiple special characters and word. Let's call it ABNORMAL(ID,PATTERN)
I have also another table INDIVIDUALS containing a column (NAME) which I want to clean by removing from it all characters that exist in the table ABNORMAL.
Currently, I have tried to use update statements, but I'm not sure if there is a better way to do this.
Approach one
Use a while loop to build a replace containing all characters from ABNORMALS by a blank '' and do one update using the built-in REPLACE
DECLARE #REPLACE_EXPRESSION nvarchar(max) ='REPLACE(NAME,'''','''')'
DECLARE #i int = 1
DECLARE #nbr int = (SELECT COUNT(*) FROM ABNORMAL)
-- CURRENT_CHARAC
DECLARE #CURRENT_CHARAC nvarchar(max)
-- NEW REPLACE EXPRESSION TO IMBRICATE INTO THE REPLACE EXPRESSION VARIABLE
DECLARE #CURR_REP NVARCHAR(max)
-- STRING TO BUILD AN SQL QUERY CONTAINING THE REPLACE EXPRESSION
DECLARE #UPDATE_QUERY nvarchar(max)
WHILE #i < #nbr
BEGIN
SELECT #CURRENT_CHARAC=PATTERN FROM CLEANSING_STG_PRISM_FRA_REF_UNSIGNIFICANT_VALUES WHERE ID_PATTERN=#i ;
SET #REPLACE_EXPRESSION = REPLACE(#REPLACE_EXPRESSION ,'NAME','REPLACE(NAME,'+''''+#CURRENT_CHARAC+''''+','''')')
set #i=#i+1
END
SET #UPDATE_QUERY = 'UPDATE INDIVIDUAL SET NAME ='+ #REPLACE_EXPRESSION
EXEC sp_executesql #UPDATE_QUERY
Approach two
Use a while loop to select every character in abnormal and do an update using replace containing the characters to remove:
DECLARE #i int = 1
DECLARE #nbr int = (SELECT COUNT(*) FROM ABNORMAL)
-- CURRENT_CHARAC
DECLARE #CURRENT_CHARAC nvarchar(max)
-- STRING TO BUILD AN SQL QUERY CONTAINING THE REPLACE EXPRESSION
DECLARE #UPDATE_QUERY nvarchar(max)
WHILE #i < #nbr
BEGIN
SELECT #CURRENT_CHARAC=PATTERN FROM CLEANSING_STG_PRISM_FRA_REF_UNSIGNIFICANT_VALUES WHERE ID_PATTERN=#i ;
UPDATE INDIVIDUAL
SET NAME = REPLACE(NAME,#CURRENT_CHARAC,'')
SET #i=#i+1
END
I already tested both approaches for 2 millions records, and I found that the first approach is faster than the second. I would know if you have already done something similar and new (better) ideas to try.
If you are using SQL Server 2017 you could use TRANSLATE and avoid dynamic SQL:
SELECT i.*
, REPLACE(TRANSLATE(i.NAME, f, REPLICATE('!', s.l)), '!', '') AS cleansed
FROM INDIVIDUALS i
OUTER APPLY (SELECT STRING_AGG(PATTERN, '') AS f
,LEN(STRING_AGG(PATTERN,'')) AS l
FROM ABNORMAL) AS s
DBFiddle Demo
Anyway 1st approach is better becasue you do one UPDATE, with second approach you remove characters one character at time (so you will have multiple UPDATE).
I would also track transaction log growth with both approaches.
If there's not too many characters that to be cleaned, then this trick might work.
Basically, you build 1 big update statement with a replace for each value in the table with the characters to be removed.
Example code:
Test data (using temp tables)
create table #ABNORMAL_CHARACTERS (id int identity(1,1), chr varchar(30));
insert into #ABNORMAL_CHARACTERS (chr) values ('!'),('&'),('#');
create table #INDIVIDUAL (id int identity(1,1), name varchar(30));
insert into #INDIVIDUAL (name) values ('test 1 &'),('test !'),('test 3');
Code:
declare #FieldName varchar(30) = 'name';
declare #Replaces varchar(max) = #FieldName;
declare #UpdateSQL varchar(max);
select #Replaces = concat('replace('+#Replaces+', ', ''''+chr+''','''')') from #ABNORMAL_CHARACTERS order by id;
set #UpdateSQL = 'update #INDIVIDUAL
set name = '+#Replaces + '
where exists (select 1 from #ABNORMAL_CHARACTERS where charindex(chr,name)>0)';
exec (#UpdateSQL);
select * from #INDIVIDUAL;
A test here on rextester
And if you would have a UDF that can do a regex replace.
For example here
Then the #Replaces variable could be simplified with only 1 RegexReplace function and a pattern.
It is asked many times, but not this way.
I am on SQL Server 2008, and there is no STRING_SPLIT function (like in 2016).
A query returns with the following row, see below a single example row. What you see below in bald is a single field actually, so one varchar column has it altogether:
Appple|10|admin|845687|Apr|26|11:32:29|2016|AwesomeApplication.zip
which I'd like to be split by the pipe | character.
I cannot write a CTE for this, or a custom function.
I have to extract the individual pipe delimited elements, into different columns, within one select statement using the built in string functions like CHARINDEX, PATINDEX.
Does anybody have any idea?
DECLARE #Result Table(Value varchar(50))
DECLARE #x XML
SELECT #X = CAST('<A>' + REPLACE(#StringList, '|', '</A><A>') + '</A>' AS XML)
INSERT INTO #Result
SELECT t.value('.', 'varchar(50)') as inVal
FROM #X.nodes('/A') AS x(t)
This will create a table with one column (Value). Each split value from your pipe-delimited string will create a new record in this table. Then you can join to it however you'd like. Please let me know if this is unclear or if it doesn't work on SQL 2008.
You can increase the size of the varchar, if needed - and you can modify the query to split on different values (comma-delimited, etc.).
ALTER FUNCTION [dbo].[split]
(
#string varchar(max),
#separator varchar(1) -- longer separator is also possible
)
RETURNS
#result TABLE (keyword varchar(max) )
AS
BEGIN
declare #pos int=0, #res varchar(100)
while len(#string)>0
begin
set #pos=CHARINDEX(#separator, #string+#separator,0)
select #res=left(#string,#pos),#string=SUBSTRING(#string,#pos+1,100)
insert #result values(#res)
end
RETURN
END
It's been a long while since this question was asked, and although the OP wanted a non-function solution, this is the only post where the answer pointed me in the right direction for me to write my code, so I thought I'd share my solution here.
What it does
This code, checks the master db compatibility mode and creates an appropriate _my_string_split function. If string_split exists, this is just a wrapper.
If not it will use the method Stan proposed in the accepted answer
So now, regardless of where I'm running my code, after creating the function, all I need to do is use master.dbo._my_string_split, for example:
SELECT * FROM master.dbo._my_string_split('Hello|World!','|')
The Code
USE master
IF OBJECT_ID('dbo._my_string_split') IS NOT NULL DROP FUNCTION [dbo].[_my_string_split]
GO
DECLARE #sqlCode NVARCHAR(MAX);
IF 130 <= (SELECT compatibility_level FROM sys.databases WHERE name = DB_NAME())
SET #sqlCode = '
--- 130+ string_split exists
CREATE FUNCTION [dbo].[_my_string_split]
(
#string nvarchar(max),
#separator nvarchar(1)
)
RETURNS
#result TABLE ([Value] nvarchar(max) )
BEGIN
INSERT INTO #result
SELECT [Value] FROM string_split(#string,#separator)
RETURN
END
'
ELSE
SET #sqlCode = '
--- before 130: string_split does not exists
CREATE FUNCTION [dbo].[_my_string_split]
(
#string nvarchar(max),
#separator nvarchar(1)
)
RETURNS
#result TABLE ([Value] nvarchar(max) )
BEGIN
INSERT INTO #result
SELECT [Value]=t.value(''.'', ''varchar(max)'')
FROM (SELECT x=(CAST((''<A>'' + REPLACE(#string, #separator, ''</A><A>'') + ''</A>'') AS XML))) a
CROSS APPLY a.x.nodes(''/A'') AS x(t)
RETURN
END
'
PRINT #sqlCode
EXEC sp_sqlexec #sqlCode
Hope others will find this useful.
UPDATE:
Someone marked this question as duplicate of
How do I split a string so I can access item x.
But it's different, my question is about Sybase SQL Anywhere, the other is about MS SQL Server. These are two different SQL engines, even if they have the same origin, they have different syntax. So it's not duplicate. I wrote in the first place in description and tags that it's all about Sybase SQL Anywhere.
I have field id_list='1234,23,56,576,1231,567,122,87876,57553,1216'
and I want to use it to search IN this field:
SELECT *
FROM table1
WHERE id IN (id_list)
id is integer
id_list is varchar/text
But in this way this doesn't work, so I need in some way to split id_list into select query.
What solution should I use here? I'm using the T-SQL Sybase ASA 9 database (SQL Anywhere).
Way I see this, is to create own function with while loop through,
and each element extract based on split by delimiter position search,
then insert elements into temp table which function will return as result.
This can be done without using dynamic SQL but you will need to create a couple of supporting objects. The fist object is a table valued function that will parse your string and return a table of integers. The second object is a stored procedure that will have a parameter where you can pass the string (id_list), parse it to a table, and then finally join it to your query.
First, create the function to parse the string:
CREATE FUNCTION [dbo].[String_To_Int_Table]
(
#list NVARCHAR(1024)
, #delimiter NCHAR(1) = ',' --Defaults to CSV
)
RETURNS
#tableList TABLE(
value INT
)
AS
BEGIN
DECLARE #value NVARCHAR(11)
DECLARE #position INT
SET #list = LTRIM(RTRIM(#list))+ ','
SET #position = CHARINDEX(#delimiter, #list, 1)
IF REPLACE(#list, #delimiter, '') <> ''
BEGIN
WHILE #position > 0
BEGIN
SET #value = LTRIM(RTRIM(LEFT(#list, #position - 1)));
INSERT INTO #tableList (value)
VALUES (cast(#value as int));
SET #list = RIGHT(#list, LEN(#list) - #position);
SET #position = CHARINDEX(#delimiter, #list, 1);
END
END
RETURN
END
Now create your stored procedure:
CREATE PROCEDURE ParseListExample
#id_list as nvarchar(1024)
AS
BEGIN
SET NOCOUNT ON;
--create a temp table to hold the list of ids
CREATE TABLE #idTable (ID INT);
-- use the table valued function to parse the ids into a table.
INSERT INTO #idTable(ID)
SELECT Value FROM dbo.String_to_int_table(#id_list, ',');
-- join the temp table of ids to the table you want to query...
SELECT T1.*
FROM table1 T1
JOIN #idTable T2
on T1.ID = T2.ID
Execution Example:
exec ParseListExample #id_list='1234,23,56,576,1231,567,122,87876,57553,1216'
I hope this helps...
Like Mikael Eriksson said, there is answer at dba.stackexchange.com with two very good solutions, first with use of sa_split_list system procedure, and second slower with CAST statement.
For the Sybase SQL Anywhere 9 sa_split_list system procedure not exist, so I have made sa_split_list system procedure replacement (I used parts of the code from bsivel answer):
CREATE PROCEDURE str_split_list
(in str long varchar, in delim char(10) default ',')
RESULT(
line_num integer,
row_value long varchar)
BEGIN
DECLARE str2 long varchar;
DECLARE position integer;
CREATE TABLE #str_split_list (
line_num integer DEFAULT AUTOINCREMENT,
row_value long varchar null,
primary key(line_num));
SET str = TRIM(str) || delim;
SET position = CHARINDEX(delim, str);
separaterows:
WHILE position > 0 loop
SET str2 = TRIM(LEFT(str, position - 1));
INSERT INTO #str_split_list (row_value)
VALUES (str2);
SET str = RIGHT(str, LENGTH(str) - position);
SET position = CHARINDEX(delim, str);
end loop separaterows;
select * from #str_split_list order by line_num asc;
END
Execute the same way as sa_split_list with default delimiter ,:
select * from str_split_list('1234,23,56,576,1231,567,122,87876,57553,1216')
or with specified delimiter which can be changed:
select * from str_split_list('1234,23,56,576,1231,567,122,87876,57553,1216', ',')
You use text in your query and this is not going to work.
Use dynamic query.
Good contribution from bsivel answer, but to generalise it (for other separators than a comma), then the line
SET #list = LTRIM(RTRIM(#list))+ ','
must become
SET #list = LTRIM(RTRIM(#list))+ #delimiter
The first version will only work for comma-separated lists.
The dynamic query approach would look like this:
create procedure ShowData #IdList VarChar(255)
as
exec ('use yourDatabase; select * from MyTable where Id in ('+#IdList+')')
I am having a small problem with the IN SQL statement. I was just wondering if anyone could help me?
#Ids = "1,2,3,4,5"
SELECT * FROM Nav WHERE CONVERT(VARCHAR,NavigationID) IN (CONVERT(VARCHAR,#Ids))
This is coming back with the error below, I am sure this is pretty simple!
Conversion failed when converting the varchar value '1,' to data type int.
The SQL IN clause does not accept a single variable to represent a list of values -- no database does, without using dynamic SQL. Otherwise, you could use a Table Valued Function (SQL Server 2000+) to pull the values out of the list & return them as a table that you can join against.
Dynamic SQL example:
EXEC('SELECT *
FROM Nav
WHERE NavigationID IN ('+ #Ids +')')
I recommend reading The curse and blessings of dynamic SQL before using dynamic SQL on SQL Server.
Jason:
First create a function like this
Create FUNCTION [dbo].[ftDelimitedAsTable](#dlm char, #string varchar(8000))
RETURNS
--------------------------------------------------------------------------*/
/*------------------------------------------------------------------------
declare #dlm char, #string varchar(1000)
set #dlm=','; set #string='t1,t2,t3';
-- tHIS FUNCION RETUNRS IN THE ASCENDING ORDER
-- 19TH Apr 06
------------------------------------------------------------------------*/
--declare
#table_var TABLE
(id int identity(1,1),
r varchar(1000)
)
AS
BEGIN
declare #n int,#i int
set #n=dbo.fnCountChars(#dlm,#string)+1
SET #I =1
while #I <= #N
begin
insert #table_var
select dbo.fsDelimitedString(#dlm,#string,#i)
set #I= #I+1
end
if #n =1 insert #TABLE_VAR VALUES(#STRING)
delete from #table_var where r=''
return
END
And then
set quoted_identifier off
declare #ids varchar(max)
select #Ids = "1,2,3,4,5"
declare #nav table ( navigationid int identity(1,1),theother bigint)
insert #nav(theother) select 10 union select 11 union select 15
SELECT * FROM #Nav WHERE CONVERT(VARCHAR,NavigationID) IN (select id from dbo.ftDelimitedAsTable(',',#Ids))
select * from dbo.ftDelimitedAsTable(',',#Ids)
What you're doing is not possible with the SQL IN statement. You cannot pass a string to it and expect that string to be parsed. IN is for specific, hard-coded values.
There are two ways to do what you want to do here.
One is to create a 'dynamic sql' query and execute it, after substituting in your IN list.
DECLARE #query varchar(max);
SET #query = 'SELECT * FROM Nav WHERE CONVERT(VARCHAR,NavigationID) IN (' + #Ids + ')'
exec (#query)
This can have performance impacts and other complications. Generally I'd try to avoid it.
The other method is to use a User Defined Function (UDF) to split the string into its component parts and then query against that.
There's a post detailing how to create that function here
Once the function exists, it's trivial to join onto it
SELECT * FROM Nav
CROSS APPLY dbo.StringSplit(#Ids) a
WHERE a.s = CONVERT(varchar, Nav.NavigationId)
NB- the 'a.s' field reference is based on the linked function, which stores the split value in a column named 's'. This may differ based on the implementation of your string split function
This is nice because it uses a set based approach to the query rather than an IN subquery, but a CROSS JOIN may be a little complex for the moment, so if you want to maintain the IN syntax then the following should work:
SELECT * FROM Nav
WHERE Nav.NavigationId IN
(SELECT CONVERT(int, a.s) AS Value
FROM dbo.StringSplit(#Ids) a
Does T-SQL allow a variable number of arguments to a stored procedure like params in C#?
EDIT: I'm using SQL Server 2005. That 2008 answer makes me wish we were using it...
In SQL 2008 there's Table-Valued Parameters (TVPs)
Your stored proc can accept lists of parameters..
Finally we're able to do a IN clause without relying on XML!
Mike
No, not for things like UDFs or stored procedures. That's what tables are for. Put the values in a table somewhere (with a common key) and pass the correct key to your procedure.
Typically
CREATE PROCEDURE dbo.sptest
( #xml TEXT )
AS
BEGIN
DECLARE #flag1 INT
DECLARE #flag2 VARCHAR(50)
DECLARE #flag3 DATETIME
DECLARE #idoc INT
exec sp_xml_preparedocument #idoc OUTPUT, #xml
SELECT #flag1 = firstparam, flag2 = secondparam, flag3 = thirdparam
FROM OPENXML(#idoc, '/root', 2) WITH
( firstparam INT, secondparam VARCHAR(50), thirdparam DATETIME) as x
END
exec sptest '<root><firstparam>5</firstparam><secondparam>Joes Bar</secondparam><thirdparam>12/30/2010</thirdparam></root>'
Extend as necessary
Another approach I've seen to passing in params or arrays is to pass in an XML string, dump that to a temporary table/table variable and work with it from that point. Not the easiest when you want to manually run a stored procedure, but it works as a work around to the lack of array/dynamic param support.
I've used a little function to separate a CSV string into a table
That way I could go
SELECT col1, col2
FROM myTable
WHERE myTable.ID IN (SELECT ID FROM dbo.SplitIDs('1,2,3,4,5...'))
My function is below:
CREATE FUNCTION [dbo].[SplitIDs]
(
#IDList varchar(500)
)
RETURNS
#ParsedList table
(
ID int
)
AS
BEGIN
DECLARE #ID varchar(10), #Pos int
SET #IDList = LTRIM(RTRIM(#IDList))+ ','
SET #Pos = CHARINDEX(',', #IDList, 1)
IF REPLACE(#IDList, ',', '') <> ''
BEGIN
WHILE #Pos > 0
BEGIN
SET #ID = LTRIM(RTRIM(LEFT(#IDList, #Pos - 1)))
IF #ID <> ''
BEGIN
INSERT INTO #ParsedList (ID)
VALUES (CAST(#ID AS int)) --Use Appropriate conversion
END
SET #IDList = RIGHT(#IDList, LEN(#IDList) - #Pos)
SET #Pos = CHARINDEX(',', #IDList, 1)
END
END
RETURN
END
I'm sure there are better ways to implement this, this is one way I found online and it works well for what I'm doing. If there are some improvement that can be made please comment.