How to search all instance for regex value in SQL Server? - sql-server

Question

I work in a secure environment and need a way of running a script against our SQL instances i.e. all dbs, tables etc. to search for the use of certain values and to show where they are... is there any way of doing this? I've scoured the net but can't seem to find this!
I've put together this script with help from various sources (vyaskn) but need help in expanding the code to include db's and regex functionality. I just don't have enough experience in using the system views and dynamic SQL to do it myself. It's more important that I get the regex stuff working if searching through all dbs is more difficult.
sp_configure 'clr enabled',1
reconfigure
DECLARE #SearchStr NVARCHAR(100)
-- search for uk phone number for example
SET #SearchStr = '(((\+44)? ?(\(0\))? ?)|(0))( ?[0-9]{3,4}){3}'
CREATE TABLE #Results
(
ColumnName NVARCHAR(370) ,
ColumnValue NVARCHAR(3630)
)
SET NOCOUNT ON
DECLARE #TableName NVARCHAR(256) ,
#ColumnName NVARCHAR(128) ,
#SearchStr2 NVARCHAR(110)
SET #TableName = ''
SET #SearchStr2 = QUOTENAME('%' + #SearchStr + '%', '''')
WHILE #TableName IS NOT NULL
BEGIN
SET #ColumnName = ''
SET #TableName = ( SELECT MIN(QUOTENAME(TABLE_SCHEMA) + '.'
+ QUOTENAME(TABLE_NAME))
FROM INFORMATION_SCHEMA.TABLES
WHERE TABLE_TYPE = 'BASE TABLE'
AND QUOTENAME(TABLE_SCHEMA) + '.'
+ QUOTENAME(TABLE_NAME) > #TableName
AND OBJECTPROPERTY(OBJECT_ID(QUOTENAME(TABLE_SCHEMA)
+ '.'
+ QUOTENAME(TABLE_NAME)),
'IsMSShipped') = 0
)
WHILE ( #TableName IS NOT NULL )
AND ( #ColumnName IS NOT NULL )
BEGIN
SET #ColumnName = ( SELECT MIN(QUOTENAME(COLUMN_NAME))
FROM INFORMATION_SCHEMA.COLUMNS
WHERE TABLE_SCHEMA = PARSENAME(#TableName,
2)
AND TABLE_NAME = PARSENAME(#TableName,
1)
AND DATA_TYPE IN ( 'char',
'varchar',
'nchar',
'nvarchar',
'int', 'decimal' )
AND QUOTENAME(COLUMN_NAME) > #ColumnName
)
IF #ColumnName IS NOT NULL
BEGIN
INSERT INTO #Results
EXEC
( 'SELECT ''' + #TableName + '.'
+ #ColumnName + ''', LEFT('
+ #ColumnName + ', 3630) FROM '
+ #TableName + ' (NOLOCK) ' + ' WHERE '
+ #ColumnName + ' LIKE ' + #SearchStr2
)
END
END
END
SELECT ColumnName ,
ColumnValue
FROM #Results
DROP TABLE #Results
--sp_configure 'clr enabled',0
--reconfigure

Answer 1

First you need to find all available SQL instance within the particular network. You can checkout this example for sample code. Once you receive the information about all SQL instances, such as server name, instance name, version, and databases. Now you must have id and password to connect with each database to retrieve any information from any Table present any database. Next create connection with each database and do required search operation.
You can take help of Full-Text Indexing while searching a particular regular expression.

Answer 2

I've had success using one of the tools from EMS to do a regex replace on an Oracle DB schema. By now, I forget which tool I used, but I was able to export the schema to an SQL file and manipulate it as plain text.
You might want to try out the SQL Manager and the DB Extract products. They both have free trials, and both support a wide range of databases.
Once you get your schema, data, and stored procedures into a single SQL file, running a search should be no problem.