How do I remove single quotes from a table in postgresql? - sql

I searched around quite a bit, it would be great if someone could link me to a solution or answer my query.
The thing is I have a postgresql table that contains a lot of single quotes and I cant figure out how to get rid of them, because obviously this
update tablename set fieldname= NULL where fieldname=' ;
wont work.


Better use replace() for this:
UPDATE tbl SET col = replace(col, '''', '');
Much faster than regexp_replace() and it replaces "globally" - all occurrences of the search string. The previously accepted answer by #beny23 was wrong in this respect. It replaced first occurrences only, would have to be:
UPDATE tbl SET col = regexp_replace(col, '''', '', 'g');
Note the additional parameter 'g' for "globally". Read about string functions in the manual.
Aside: the canonical (and SQL standard) way to escape single quotes (') in string literals is to double them (''). Using Posix style escape sequences works, too, of course. Details:
Insert text with single quotes in PostgreSQL


update tablename set fieldname= NULL where fieldname='''' ;
or
update tablename set fieldname= NULL where fieldname=E'\'' ;


insert into table1(data) values ($$it's a string, it's got some single quotes$$)
Use $$ before and after the string. It will insert data.

Related

Database query issue - trying to insert a query in column [duplicate]

I am trying to insert some text data into a table in SQL Server 9.
The text includes a single quote '.
How do I escape that?
I tried using two single quotes, but it threw me some errors.
eg. insert into my_table values('hi, my name''s tim.');

Single quotes are escaped by doubling them up, just as you've shown us in your example. The following SQL illustrates this functionality. I tested it on SQL Server 2008:
DECLARE #my_table TABLE (
[value] VARCHAR(200)
)
INSERT INTO #my_table VALUES ('hi, my name''s tim.')
SELECT * FROM #my_table
Results
value
==================
hi, my name's tim.

If escaping your single quote with another single quote isn't working for you (like it didn't for one of my recent REPLACE() queries), you can use SET QUOTED_IDENTIFIER OFF before your query, then SET QUOTED_IDENTIFIER ON after your query.
For example
SET QUOTED_IDENTIFIER OFF;
UPDATE TABLE SET NAME = REPLACE(NAME, "'S", "S");
SET QUOTED_IDENTIFIER ON;
-- set OFF then ON again

How about:
insert into my_table values('hi, my name' + char(39) + 's tim.')

Many of us know that the Popular Method of Escaping Single Quotes is by Doubling them up easily like below.
PRINT 'It''s me, Arul.';
we are going to look on some other alternate ways of escaping the single quotes.
1. UNICODE Characters
39 is the UNICODE character of Single Quote. So we can use it like below.
PRINT 'Hi,it'+CHAR(39)+'s Arul.';
PRINT 'Helo,it'+NCHAR(39)+'s Arul.';
2. QUOTED_IDENTIFIER
Another simple and best alternate solution is to use QUOTED_IDENTIFIER.
When QUOTED_IDENTIFIER is set to OFF, the strings can be enclosed in double quotes.
In this scenario, we don’t need to escape single quotes.
So,this way would be very helpful while using lot of string values with single quotes.
It will be very much helpful while using so many lines of INSERT/UPDATE scripts where column values having single quotes.
SET QUOTED_IDENTIFIER OFF;
PRINT "It's Arul."
SET QUOTED_IDENTIFIER ON;
CONCLUSION
The above mentioned methods are applicable to both AZURE and On Premises .

2 ways to work around this:
for ' you can simply double it in the string, e.g.
select 'I''m happpy' -- will get: I'm happy
For any charactor you are not sure of: in sql server you can get any char's unicode by select unicode(':') (you keep the number)
So this case you can also select 'I'+nchar(39)+'m happpy'

The doubling up of the quote should have worked, so it's peculiar that it didn't work for you; however, an alternative is using double quote characters, instead of single ones, around the string. I.e.,
insert into my_table values("hi, my name's tim.");

Also another thing to be careful of is whether or not it is really stored as a classic ASCII ' (ASCII 27) or Unicode 2019 (which looks similar, but not the same). This isn't a big deal on inserts, but it can mean the world on selects and updates. If it's the unicode value then escaping the ' in a WHERE clause (e.g where blah = 'Workers''s Comp') will return like the value you are searching for isn't there if the ' in "Worker's Comp" is actually the unicode value.If your client application supports free-key, as well as copy and paste based input, it could be Unicode in some rows, and ASCII in others!
A simple way to confirm this is by doing some kind of open ended query that will bring back the value you are searching for, and then copy and paste that into notepad++ or some other unicode supporting editor. The differing appearance between the ascii value and the unicode one should be obvious to the eyes, but if you lean towards the anal, it will show up as 27 (ascii) or 92 (unicode) in a hex editor.

The following syntax will escape you ONLY ONE quotation mark:
SELECT ''''
The result will be a single quote. Might be very helpful for creating dynamic SQL :).

Double quotes option helped me
SET QUOTED_IDENTIFIER OFF;
insert into my_table values("hi, my name's tim.");
SET QUOTED_IDENTIFIER ON;

This should work
DECLARE #singleQuote CHAR
SET #singleQuote = CHAR(39)
insert into my_table values('hi, my name'+ #singleQuote +'s tim.')

Just insert a ' before anything to be inserted. It will be like a escape character in sqlServer
Example:
When you have a field as, I'm fine.
you can do:
UPDATE my_table SET row ='I''m fine.';

I had the same problem, but mine was not based of static data in the SQL code itself, but from values in the data.
This code lists all the columns names and data types in my database:
SELECT DISTINCT QUOTENAME(COLUMN_NAME),DATA_TYPE FROM INFORMATION_SCHEMA.COLUMNS
But some column names actually have a single-quote embedded in the name of the column!, such as ...
[MyTable].[LEOS'DATACOLUMN]
To process these, I had to use the REPLACE function along with the suggested QUOTED_IDENTIFIER setting. Otherwise it would be a syntax error, when the column is used in a dynamic SQL.
SET QUOTED_IDENTIFIER OFF;
SET #sql = 'SELECT DISTINCT ''' + #TableName + ''',''' + REPLACE(#ColumnName,"'","''") + ...etc
SET QUOTED_IDENTIFIER ON;

The STRING_ESCAPE funtion can be used on newer versions of SQL Server

This should work: use a back slash and put a double quote
"UPDATE my_table SET row =\"hi, my name's tim.\";

Using the IN operator to find a list of values containing special characters [duplicate]

I am trying to insert some text data into a table in SQL Server 9.
The text includes a single quote '.
How do I escape that?
I tried using two single quotes, but it threw me some errors.
eg. insert into my_table values('hi, my name''s tim.');

Single quotes are escaped by doubling them up, just as you've shown us in your example. The following SQL illustrates this functionality. I tested it on SQL Server 2008:
DECLARE #my_table TABLE (
[value] VARCHAR(200)
)
INSERT INTO #my_table VALUES ('hi, my name''s tim.')
SELECT * FROM #my_table
Results
value
==================
hi, my name's tim.

If escaping your single quote with another single quote isn't working for you (like it didn't for one of my recent REPLACE() queries), you can use SET QUOTED_IDENTIFIER OFF before your query, then SET QUOTED_IDENTIFIER ON after your query.
For example
SET QUOTED_IDENTIFIER OFF;
UPDATE TABLE SET NAME = REPLACE(NAME, "'S", "S");
SET QUOTED_IDENTIFIER ON;
-- set OFF then ON again

How about:
insert into my_table values('hi, my name' + char(39) + 's tim.')

Many of us know that the Popular Method of Escaping Single Quotes is by Doubling them up easily like below.
PRINT 'It''s me, Arul.';
we are going to look on some other alternate ways of escaping the single quotes.
1. UNICODE Characters
39 is the UNICODE character of Single Quote. So we can use it like below.
PRINT 'Hi,it'+CHAR(39)+'s Arul.';
PRINT 'Helo,it'+NCHAR(39)+'s Arul.';
2. QUOTED_IDENTIFIER
Another simple and best alternate solution is to use QUOTED_IDENTIFIER.
When QUOTED_IDENTIFIER is set to OFF, the strings can be enclosed in double quotes.
In this scenario, we don’t need to escape single quotes.
So,this way would be very helpful while using lot of string values with single quotes.
It will be very much helpful while using so many lines of INSERT/UPDATE scripts where column values having single quotes.
SET QUOTED_IDENTIFIER OFF;
PRINT "It's Arul."
SET QUOTED_IDENTIFIER ON;
CONCLUSION
The above mentioned methods are applicable to both AZURE and On Premises .

2 ways to work around this:
for ' you can simply double it in the string, e.g.
select 'I''m happpy' -- will get: I'm happy
For any charactor you are not sure of: in sql server you can get any char's unicode by select unicode(':') (you keep the number)
So this case you can also select 'I'+nchar(39)+'m happpy'

The doubling up of the quote should have worked, so it's peculiar that it didn't work for you; however, an alternative is using double quote characters, instead of single ones, around the string. I.e.,
insert into my_table values("hi, my name's tim.");

Also another thing to be careful of is whether or not it is really stored as a classic ASCII ' (ASCII 27) or Unicode 2019 (which looks similar, but not the same). This isn't a big deal on inserts, but it can mean the world on selects and updates. If it's the unicode value then escaping the ' in a WHERE clause (e.g where blah = 'Workers''s Comp') will return like the value you are searching for isn't there if the ' in "Worker's Comp" is actually the unicode value.If your client application supports free-key, as well as copy and paste based input, it could be Unicode in some rows, and ASCII in others!
A simple way to confirm this is by doing some kind of open ended query that will bring back the value you are searching for, and then copy and paste that into notepad++ or some other unicode supporting editor. The differing appearance between the ascii value and the unicode one should be obvious to the eyes, but if you lean towards the anal, it will show up as 27 (ascii) or 92 (unicode) in a hex editor.

The following syntax will escape you ONLY ONE quotation mark:
SELECT ''''
The result will be a single quote. Might be very helpful for creating dynamic SQL :).

Double quotes option helped me
SET QUOTED_IDENTIFIER OFF;
insert into my_table values("hi, my name's tim.");
SET QUOTED_IDENTIFIER ON;

This should work
DECLARE #singleQuote CHAR
SET #singleQuote = CHAR(39)
insert into my_table values('hi, my name'+ #singleQuote +'s tim.')

Just insert a ' before anything to be inserted. It will be like a escape character in sqlServer
Example:
When you have a field as, I'm fine.
you can do:
UPDATE my_table SET row ='I''m fine.';

I had the same problem, but mine was not based of static data in the SQL code itself, but from values in the data.
This code lists all the columns names and data types in my database:
SELECT DISTINCT QUOTENAME(COLUMN_NAME),DATA_TYPE FROM INFORMATION_SCHEMA.COLUMNS
But some column names actually have a single-quote embedded in the name of the column!, such as ...
[MyTable].[LEOS'DATACOLUMN]
To process these, I had to use the REPLACE function along with the suggested QUOTED_IDENTIFIER setting. Otherwise it would be a syntax error, when the column is used in a dynamic SQL.
SET QUOTED_IDENTIFIER OFF;
SET #sql = 'SELECT DISTINCT ''' + #TableName + ''',''' + REPLACE(#ColumnName,"'","''") + ...etc
SET QUOTED_IDENTIFIER ON;

The STRING_ESCAPE funtion can be used on newer versions of SQL Server

This should work: use a back slash and put a double quote
"UPDATE my_table SET row =\"hi, my name's tim.\";

SQL how to use escape character for quotes around a select statement [duplicate]

I am trying to insert some text data into a table in SQL Server 9.
The text includes a single quote '.
How do I escape that?
I tried using two single quotes, but it threw me some errors.
eg. insert into my_table values('hi, my name''s tim.');

Single quotes are escaped by doubling them up, just as you've shown us in your example. The following SQL illustrates this functionality. I tested it on SQL Server 2008:
DECLARE #my_table TABLE (
[value] VARCHAR(200)
)
INSERT INTO #my_table VALUES ('hi, my name''s tim.')
SELECT * FROM #my_table
Results
value
==================
hi, my name's tim.

If escaping your single quote with another single quote isn't working for you (like it didn't for one of my recent REPLACE() queries), you can use SET QUOTED_IDENTIFIER OFF before your query, then SET QUOTED_IDENTIFIER ON after your query.
For example
SET QUOTED_IDENTIFIER OFF;
UPDATE TABLE SET NAME = REPLACE(NAME, "'S", "S");
SET QUOTED_IDENTIFIER ON;
-- set OFF then ON again

How about:
insert into my_table values('hi, my name' + char(39) + 's tim.')

Many of us know that the Popular Method of Escaping Single Quotes is by Doubling them up easily like below.
PRINT 'It''s me, Arul.';
we are going to look on some other alternate ways of escaping the single quotes.
1. UNICODE Characters
39 is the UNICODE character of Single Quote. So we can use it like below.
PRINT 'Hi,it'+CHAR(39)+'s Arul.';
PRINT 'Helo,it'+NCHAR(39)+'s Arul.';
2. QUOTED_IDENTIFIER
Another simple and best alternate solution is to use QUOTED_IDENTIFIER.
When QUOTED_IDENTIFIER is set to OFF, the strings can be enclosed in double quotes.
In this scenario, we don’t need to escape single quotes.
So,this way would be very helpful while using lot of string values with single quotes.
It will be very much helpful while using so many lines of INSERT/UPDATE scripts where column values having single quotes.
SET QUOTED_IDENTIFIER OFF;
PRINT "It's Arul."
SET QUOTED_IDENTIFIER ON;
CONCLUSION
The above mentioned methods are applicable to both AZURE and On Premises .

2 ways to work around this:
for ' you can simply double it in the string, e.g.
select 'I''m happpy' -- will get: I'm happy
For any charactor you are not sure of: in sql server you can get any char's unicode by select unicode(':') (you keep the number)
So this case you can also select 'I'+nchar(39)+'m happpy'

The doubling up of the quote should have worked, so it's peculiar that it didn't work for you; however, an alternative is using double quote characters, instead of single ones, around the string. I.e.,
insert into my_table values("hi, my name's tim.");

Also another thing to be careful of is whether or not it is really stored as a classic ASCII ' (ASCII 27) or Unicode 2019 (which looks similar, but not the same). This isn't a big deal on inserts, but it can mean the world on selects and updates. If it's the unicode value then escaping the ' in a WHERE clause (e.g where blah = 'Workers''s Comp') will return like the value you are searching for isn't there if the ' in "Worker's Comp" is actually the unicode value.If your client application supports free-key, as well as copy and paste based input, it could be Unicode in some rows, and ASCII in others!
A simple way to confirm this is by doing some kind of open ended query that will bring back the value you are searching for, and then copy and paste that into notepad++ or some other unicode supporting editor. The differing appearance between the ascii value and the unicode one should be obvious to the eyes, but if you lean towards the anal, it will show up as 27 (ascii) or 92 (unicode) in a hex editor.

The following syntax will escape you ONLY ONE quotation mark:
SELECT ''''
The result will be a single quote. Might be very helpful for creating dynamic SQL :).

Double quotes option helped me
SET QUOTED_IDENTIFIER OFF;
insert into my_table values("hi, my name's tim.");
SET QUOTED_IDENTIFIER ON;

This should work
DECLARE #singleQuote CHAR
SET #singleQuote = CHAR(39)
insert into my_table values('hi, my name'+ #singleQuote +'s tim.')

Just insert a ' before anything to be inserted. It will be like a escape character in sqlServer
Example:
When you have a field as, I'm fine.
you can do:
UPDATE my_table SET row ='I''m fine.';

I had the same problem, but mine was not based of static data in the SQL code itself, but from values in the data.
This code lists all the columns names and data types in my database:
SELECT DISTINCT QUOTENAME(COLUMN_NAME),DATA_TYPE FROM INFORMATION_SCHEMA.COLUMNS
But some column names actually have a single-quote embedded in the name of the column!, such as ...
[MyTable].[LEOS'DATACOLUMN]
To process these, I had to use the REPLACE function along with the suggested QUOTED_IDENTIFIER setting. Otherwise it would be a syntax error, when the column is used in a dynamic SQL.
SET QUOTED_IDENTIFIER OFF;
SET #sql = 'SELECT DISTINCT ''' + #TableName + ''',''' + REPLACE(#ColumnName,"'","''") + ...etc
SET QUOTED_IDENTIFIER ON;

The STRING_ESCAPE funtion can be used on newer versions of SQL Server

This should work: use a back slash and put a double quote
"UPDATE my_table SET row =\"hi, my name's tim.\";

Difference between single quote and double single quotes in sql [duplicate]

I am trying to insert some text data into a table in SQL Server 9.
The text includes a single quote '.
How do I escape that?
I tried using two single quotes, but it threw me some errors.
eg. insert into my_table values('hi, my name''s tim.');

Single quotes are escaped by doubling them up, just as you've shown us in your example. The following SQL illustrates this functionality. I tested it on SQL Server 2008:
DECLARE #my_table TABLE (
[value] VARCHAR(200)
)
INSERT INTO #my_table VALUES ('hi, my name''s tim.')
SELECT * FROM #my_table
Results
value
==================
hi, my name's tim.

If escaping your single quote with another single quote isn't working for you (like it didn't for one of my recent REPLACE() queries), you can use SET QUOTED_IDENTIFIER OFF before your query, then SET QUOTED_IDENTIFIER ON after your query.
For example
SET QUOTED_IDENTIFIER OFF;
UPDATE TABLE SET NAME = REPLACE(NAME, "'S", "S");
SET QUOTED_IDENTIFIER ON;
-- set OFF then ON again

How about:
insert into my_table values('hi, my name' + char(39) + 's tim.')

Many of us know that the Popular Method of Escaping Single Quotes is by Doubling them up easily like below.
PRINT 'It''s me, Arul.';
we are going to look on some other alternate ways of escaping the single quotes.
1. UNICODE Characters
39 is the UNICODE character of Single Quote. So we can use it like below.
PRINT 'Hi,it'+CHAR(39)+'s Arul.';
PRINT 'Helo,it'+NCHAR(39)+'s Arul.';
2. QUOTED_IDENTIFIER
Another simple and best alternate solution is to use QUOTED_IDENTIFIER.
When QUOTED_IDENTIFIER is set to OFF, the strings can be enclosed in double quotes.
In this scenario, we don’t need to escape single quotes.
So,this way would be very helpful while using lot of string values with single quotes.
It will be very much helpful while using so many lines of INSERT/UPDATE scripts where column values having single quotes.
SET QUOTED_IDENTIFIER OFF;
PRINT "It's Arul."
SET QUOTED_IDENTIFIER ON;
CONCLUSION
The above mentioned methods are applicable to both AZURE and On Premises .

2 ways to work around this:
for ' you can simply double it in the string, e.g.
select 'I''m happpy' -- will get: I'm happy
For any charactor you are not sure of: in sql server you can get any char's unicode by select unicode(':') (you keep the number)
So this case you can also select 'I'+nchar(39)+'m happpy'

The doubling up of the quote should have worked, so it's peculiar that it didn't work for you; however, an alternative is using double quote characters, instead of single ones, around the string. I.e.,
insert into my_table values("hi, my name's tim.");

Also another thing to be careful of is whether or not it is really stored as a classic ASCII ' (ASCII 27) or Unicode 2019 (which looks similar, but not the same). This isn't a big deal on inserts, but it can mean the world on selects and updates. If it's the unicode value then escaping the ' in a WHERE clause (e.g where blah = 'Workers''s Comp') will return like the value you are searching for isn't there if the ' in "Worker's Comp" is actually the unicode value.If your client application supports free-key, as well as copy and paste based input, it could be Unicode in some rows, and ASCII in others!
A simple way to confirm this is by doing some kind of open ended query that will bring back the value you are searching for, and then copy and paste that into notepad++ or some other unicode supporting editor. The differing appearance between the ascii value and the unicode one should be obvious to the eyes, but if you lean towards the anal, it will show up as 27 (ascii) or 92 (unicode) in a hex editor.

The following syntax will escape you ONLY ONE quotation mark:
SELECT ''''
The result will be a single quote. Might be very helpful for creating dynamic SQL :).

Double quotes option helped me
SET QUOTED_IDENTIFIER OFF;
insert into my_table values("hi, my name's tim.");
SET QUOTED_IDENTIFIER ON;

This should work
DECLARE #singleQuote CHAR
SET #singleQuote = CHAR(39)
insert into my_table values('hi, my name'+ #singleQuote +'s tim.')

Just insert a ' before anything to be inserted. It will be like a escape character in sqlServer
Example:
When you have a field as, I'm fine.
you can do:
UPDATE my_table SET row ='I''m fine.';

I had the same problem, but mine was not based of static data in the SQL code itself, but from values in the data.
This code lists all the columns names and data types in my database:
SELECT DISTINCT QUOTENAME(COLUMN_NAME),DATA_TYPE FROM INFORMATION_SCHEMA.COLUMNS
But some column names actually have a single-quote embedded in the name of the column!, such as ...
[MyTable].[LEOS'DATACOLUMN]
To process these, I had to use the REPLACE function along with the suggested QUOTED_IDENTIFIER setting. Otherwise it would be a syntax error, when the column is used in a dynamic SQL.
SET QUOTED_IDENTIFIER OFF;
SET #sql = 'SELECT DISTINCT ''' + #TableName + ''',''' + REPLACE(#ColumnName,"'","''") + ...etc
SET QUOTED_IDENTIFIER ON;

The STRING_ESCAPE funtion can be used on newer versions of SQL Server

This should work: use a back slash and put a double quote
"UPDATE my_table SET row =\"hi, my name's tim.\";

How to remove a single quote from a value while inserting in SQL database

I have a long list of insert query which has a slight error.
INSERT INTO `delivery_zip` (..)
VALUES ("AB'C / DEF", ..), ("AB'C / DEF", ..), ("AB'C / DEF", ..), ...
How do I remove the single quote after AB' from the values.

If the single quote in question is the only single quote present in the column col1, and you have already inserted the data, then you should be safe using UPDATE with REPLACE to remove it:
UPDATE delivery_zip
SET col1 = REPLACE(col1, ''', '')
But if you haven't done the insertion yet, you could do a find and replace in your script first, possibly using a regex if needed.