SQL Script patindex - sql-server

I think i have some syntax error in my script but can't figure out where.
I want to select the Integer that falls between a pair of ( ) begining from the right of a cell? Reason being, there might be another pair of brackets containing characters
and what if some records are w/o close brackets for some reason..
e.g.
Period | ProgrammeName |
Jan | ABC (Children) (30) |
Feb | Helloworld (20T (20) |
result: 30 20
select
Period,
ProgrammeName,
substring(ProgrammeName,(len(ProgrammeName) - (patindex('%(%', Reverse(ProgrammeName)))+2),(len(ProgrammeName)-1))
from
Table
but it only displays
30)
20)
i have been manipulating it so that it doesn't extract ')', but can't get the expected results.

So, you need to grab whatever's between the final set of open and closing brackets at the end of a string, right?
First off, find the first opening bracket from the end of the string. I'd use CHARINDEX, as you're just looking for a single character; you don't need to use pattern matching.
SELECT LEN(ProgrammeName) + 1 - CHARINDEX('(', REVERSE(ProgrammeName)) FROM Table
Then, find the first closing bracket from the end of the string:
SELECT LEN(ProgrammeName) + 1 - CHARINDEX(')', REVERSE(ProgrammeName)) FROM Table
Then, put those together. To use SUBSTRING, you need the position of the first character, then the length of the string you want, so you need the first result (the position of the '('), and then the second result minus the first result, to get the length of the bracketed bit, as a starting point:
SELECT (LEN(ProgrammeName) + 1 - CHARINDEX(')', REVERSE(ProgrammeName))) - (LEN(ProgrammeName) + 1 - CHARINDEX('(', REVERSE(ProgrammeName))) FROM Table
You also need to do a bit of fiddling to extract the part between the brackets, leaving the brackets alone. That's explained in the comments in this final example, where the final expression should be doing the job you want:
SELECT
-- Position of first bracket
LEN(ProgrammeName) + 1 - CHARINDEX('(', REVERSE(ProgrammeName)),
-- Position of second bracket
LEN(ProgrammeName) + 1 - CHARINDEX(')', REVERSE(ProgrammeName)),
-- Position of second bracket minus position of first bracket gives length
(LEN(ProgrammeName) + 1 - CHARINDEX(')', REVERSE(ProgrammeName))) - (LEN(ProgrammeName) + 1 - CHARINDEX('(', REVERSE(ProgrammeName))),
-- If we want to extract the bit between the brackets, we need to start from the bracket position
-- plus one character, and knock one off the length, to avoid grabbing the closing bracket.
SUBSTRING(ProgrammeName, 1 + LEN(ProgrammeName) + 1 - CHARINDEX('(', REVERSE(ProgrammeName)), (LEN(ProgrammeName) + 1 - CHARINDEX(')', REVERSE(ProgrammeName))) - (LEN(ProgrammeName) + 1 - CHARINDEX('(', REVERSE(ProgrammeName))) - 1)
FROM
Table
I've broken my answer down so you can see how I approach problems like these -- do them one bit at a time, checking the results as you go along, and it's easier to get your head around.

Related

SQL Server - How to get last numeric value in the given string

I am trying to get last numeric part in the given string.
For Example, below are the given strings and the result should be last numeric part only
SB124197 --> 124197
287276ACBX92 --> 92
R009321743-16 --> 16
How to achieve this functionality. Please help.
Try this:
select right(#str, patindex('%[^0-9]%',reverse(#str)) - 1)
Explanation:
Using PATINDEX with '%[^0-9]%' as a search pattern you get the starting position of the first occurrence of a character that is not a number.
Using REVERSE you get the position of the first non numeric character starting from the back of the string.
Edit:
To handle the case of strings not containing non numeric characters you can use:
select case
when patindex(#str, '%[^0-9]%') = 0 then #str
else right(#str, patindex('%[^0-9]%',reverse(#str)) - 1)
end
If your data always contains at least one non-numeric character then you can use the first query, otherwise use the second one.
Actual query:
So, if your table is something like this:
mycol
--------------
SB124197
287276ACBX92
R009321743-16
123456
then you can use the following query (works in SQL Server 2012+):
select iif(x.i = 0, mycol, right(mycol, x.i - 1))
from mytable
cross apply (select patindex('%[^0-9]%', reverse(mycol) )) as x(i)
Output:
mynum
------
124197
92
16
123456
Demo here
Here is one way using Patindex
SELECT RIGHT(strg, COALESCE(NULLIF(Patindex('%[^0-9]%', Reverse(strg)), 0) - 1, Len(strg)))
FROM (VALUES ('SB124197'),
('287276ACBX92'),
('R009321743-16')) tc (strg)
After reversing the string, we are finding the position of first non numeric character and extracting the data from that position till the end..
Result :
-----
124197
92
16

SQL Query to Add Leading 0 to part of a column

I need to update a column in SQL to add a leading zero. Problem is this column has data in it in several formats.
0047
0070-0336
0025-0145
0032-0008
0033-0196 Johnson EEOC Matter
I need to add a zero before the last 4 digits, or rather just after the dash, but to only the rows that have the 4 digit - 4 digit format (and 4 -4 plus alpha). So it would look like:
0047
0070-00336
0025-00145
0032-00008
0033-00196 Johnson EEOC Matter
I have tried several UPDATE and RIGHT statements but cannot get the result I need.
what about REPLACE
SELECT REPLACE(YourField, '-', '-0');
FROM YourTable
This will replace the first occurrence of -
SELECT STUFF(YourField, CHARINDEX('-', YourField), 1, '-0')
But will fail if you have this case
0476 jhonso-jhonson
Not tested. Please test it before execution on your real data.
UPDATE yourTable
SET col = SUBSTRING(col, 0, CHARINDEX('-', col))
+ '-0' +
SUBSTRING(col, CHARINDEX('-', col) + 1, LEN(col) - CHARINDEX('-', col))
WHERE col LIKE N'____-____%'
This filters only rows with 4 characters, followed by -, followed by 4 characters, followed by anything. It sets the column in the following way: put the character from 0 till the first - as they are, append -0 (instead of -), then append the rest of column value as they are.
You can use the following expression:
SELECT IIF(CHARINDEX('-', #COL) <> 0,
STUFF(#COL, CHARINDEX('-', #COL), 1, '-0'),
#COL)
In case of a 4 digit - 4 digit, or 4 -4 plus alpha format, this will replace the first '-' with a '-0'.

How do I match a substring of variable length?

I am importing data into my SQL database from an Excel spreadsheet.
The imp table is the imported data, the app table is the existing database table.
app.ReceiptId is formatted as "A" followed by some numbers. Formerly it was 4 digits, but now it may be 4 or 5 digits.
Examples:
A1234
A9876
A10001
imp.ref is a free-text reference field from Excel. It consists of some arbitrary length description, then the ReceiptId, followed by an irrelevant reference number in the format " - BZ-0987654321" (which is sometimes cropped short, or even missing entirely).
Examples:
SHORT DESC A1234 - BZ-0987654321
LONGER DESCRIPTION A9876 - BZ-123
REALLY LONG DESCRIPTION A2345 - B
REALLY REALLY LONG DESCRIPTION A23456
The code below works for a 4-digit ReceiptId, but will not correctly capture a 5-digit one.
UPDATE app
SET
[...]
FROM imp
INNER JOIN app
ON app.ReceiptId = right(right(rtrim(replace(replace(imp.ref,'-',''),'B','')),5)
+ rtrim(left(imp.ref,charindex(' - BZ-',imp.ref))),5)
How can I change the code so it captures either 4 (A1234) or 5 (A12345) digits?
As ughai rightfully wrote in his comment, it's not recommended to use anything other then columns in the on clause of a join.
The reason for that is that using functions prevents sql server for using any indexes on the columns that it might use without the functions.
Therefor, I would suggest adding another column to imp table that will hold the actual ReceiptId and be calculated during the import process itself.
I think the best way of extracting the ReceiptId from the ref column is using substring with patindex, as demonstrated in this fiddle:
SELECT ref,
RTRIM(SUBSTRING(ref, PATINDEX('%A[0-9][0-9][0-9][0-9]%', ref), 6)) As ReceiptId
FROM imp
Update
After the conversation with t-clausen-dk in the comments, I came up with this:
SELECT ref,
CASE WHEN PATINDEX('%[ ]A[0-9][0-9][0-9][0-9][0-9| ]%', ref) > 0
OR PATINDEX('A[0-9][0-9][0-9][0-9][0-9| ]%', ref) = 1 THEN
SUBSTRING(ref, PATINDEX('%A[0-9][0-9][0-9][0-9][0-9| ]%', ref), 6)
ELSE
NULL
END As ReceiptId
FROM imp
fiddle here
This will return null if there is no match,
when a match is a sub string that contains A followed by 4 or 5 digits, separated by spaces from the rest of the string, and can be found at the start, middle or end of the string.
Try this, it will remove all characters before the A[number][number][number][number] and take the first 6 characters after that:
UPDATE app
SET
[...]
FROM imp
INNER JOIN app
ON app.ReceiptId in
(
left(stuff(ref,1, patindex('%A[0-9][0-9][0-9][0-9][ ]%', imp.ref + ' ') - 1, ''), 5),
left(stuff(ref,1, patindex('%A[0-9][0-9][0-9][0-9][0-9][ ]%', imp.ref + ' ') - 1, ''), 6)
)
When using equal, the spaces after is not evaluated

Right pad a string with variable number of spaces

I have a customer table that I want to use to populate a parameter box in SSRS 2008. The cust_num is the value and the concatenation of the cust_name and cust_addr will be the label. The required fields from the table are:
cust_num int PK
cust_name char(50) not null
cust_addr char(50)
The SQL is:
select cust_num, cust_name + isnull(cust_addr, '') address
from customers
Which gives me this in the parameter list:
FIRST OUTPUT - ACTUAL
1 cust1 addr1
2 customer2 addr2
Which is what I expected but I want:
SECOND OUTPUT - DESIRED
1 cust1 addr1
2 customer2 addr2
What I have tried:
select cust_num, rtrim(cust_name) + space(60 - len(cust_name)) +
rtrim(cust_addr) + space(60 - len(cust_addr)) customer
from customers
Which gives me the first output.
select cust_num, rtrim(cust_name) + replicate(char(32), 60 - len(cust_name)) +
rtrim(cust_addr) + replicate(char(32), 60 - len(cust_addr)) customer
Which also gives me the first output.
I have also tried replacing space() with char(32) and vice versa
I have tried variations of substring, left, right all to no avail.
I have also used ltrim and rtrim in various spots.
The reason for the 60 is that I have checked the max length in both fields and it is 50 and I want some whitespace between the fields even if the field is maxed. I am not really concerned about truncated data since the city, state, and zip are in different fields so if the end of the street address is chopped off it is ok, I guess.
This is not a show stopper, the SSRS report is currently deployed with the first output but I would like to make it cleaner if I can.
Whammo blammo (for leading spaces):
SELECT
RIGHT(space(60) + cust_name, 60),
RIGHT(space(60) + cust_address, 60)
OR (for trailing spaces)
SELECT
LEFT(cust_name + space(60), 60),
LEFT(cust_address + space(60), 60),
The easiest way to right pad a string with spaces (without them being trimmed) is to simply cast the string as CHAR(length). MSSQL will sometimes trim whitespace from VARCHAR (because it is a VARiable-length data type). Since CHAR is a fixed length datatype, SQL Server will never trim the trailing spaces, and will automatically pad strings that are shorter than its length with spaces. Try the following code snippet for example.
SELECT CAST('Test' AS CHAR(20))
This returns the value 'Test '.
This is based on Jim's answer,
SELECT
#field_text + SPACE(#pad_length - LEN(#field_text)) AS RightPad
,SPACE(#pad_length - LEN(#field_text)) + #field_text AS LeftPad
Advantages
More Straight Forward
Slightly Cleaner (IMO)
Faster (Maybe?)
Easily Modified to either double pad for displaying in non-fixed width fonts or split padding left and right to center
Disadvantages
Doesn't handle LEN(#field_text) > #pad_length
Based on KMier's answer, addresses the comment that this method poses a problem when the field to be padded is not a field, but the outcome of a (possibly complicated) function; the entire function has to be repeated.
Also, this allows for padding a field to the maximum length of its contents.
WITH
cte AS (
SELECT 'foo' AS value_to_be_padded
UNION SELECT 'foobar'
),
cte_max AS (
SELECT MAX(LEN(value_to_be_padded)) AS max_len
)
SELECT
CONCAT(SPACE(max_len - LEN(value_to_be_padded)), value_to_be_padded AS left_padded,
CONCAT(value_to_be_padded, SPACE(max_len - LEN(value_to_be_padded)) AS right_padded;
declare #t table(f1 varchar(50),f2 varchar(50),f3 varchar(50))
insert into #t values
('foooo','fooooooo','foo')
,('foo','fooooooo','fooo')
,('foooooooo','fooooooo','foooooo')
select
concat(f1
,space(max(len(f1)) over () - len(f1))
,space(3)
,f2
,space(max(len(f2)) over () - len(f2))
,space(3)
,f3
)
from #t
result
foooo fooooooo foo
foo fooooooo fooo
foooooooo fooooooo foooooo

How to extract this specific substring in SQL Server?

I have a string with a specific pattern:
23;chair,red [$3]
i.e., a number followed by a semicolon, then a name followed by a left square bracket.
Assuming the semicolon ; always exists and the left square bracket [ always exists in the string, how do I extract the text between (and not including) the ; and the [ in a SQL Server query? Thanks.
Combine the SUBSTRING(), LEFT(), and CHARINDEX() functions.
SELECT LEFT(SUBSTRING(YOUR_FIELD,
CHARINDEX(';', YOUR_FIELD) + 1, 100),
CHARINDEX('[', YOUR_FIELD) - 1)
FROM YOUR_TABLE;
This assumes your field length will never exceed 100, but you can make it smarter to account for that if necessary by employing the LEN() function. I didn't bother since there's enough going on in there already, and I don't have an instance to test against, so I'm just eyeballing my parentheses, etc.
Assuming they always exist and are not part of your data, this will work:
declare #string varchar(8000) = '23;chair,red [$3]'
select substring(#string, charindex(';', #string) + 1, charindex(' [', #string) - charindex(';', #string) - 1)
An alternative to the answer provided by #Marc
SELECT SUBSTRING(LEFT(YOUR_FIELD, CHARINDEX('[', YOUR_FIELD) - 1), CHARINDEX(';', YOUR_FIELD) + 1, 100)
FROM YOUR_TABLE
WHERE CHARINDEX('[', YOUR_FIELD) > 0 AND
CHARINDEX(';', YOUR_FIELD) > 0;
This makes sure the delimiters exist, and solves an issue with the currently accepted answer where doing the LEFT last is working with the position of the last delimiter in the original string, rather than the revised substring.
select substring(your_field, CHARINDEX(';',your_field)+1
,CHARINDEX('[',your_field)-CHARINDEX(';',your_field)-1)
from your_table
Can't get the others to work. I believe you just want what is in between ';' and '[' in all cases regardless of how long the string in between is. After specifying the field in the substring function, the second argument is the starting location of what you will extract. That is, where the ';' is + 1 (fourth position - the c), because you don't want to include ';'. The next argument takes the location of the '[' (position 14) and subtracts the location of the spot after the ';' (fourth position - this is why I now subtract 1 in the query). This basically says substring(field,location I want substring to begin, how long I want substring to be). I've used this same function in other cases. If some of the fields don't have ';' and '[', you'll want to filter those out in the "where" clause, but that's a little different than the question. If your ';' was say... ';;;', you would use 3 instead of 1 in the example. Hope this helps!
If you need to split something into 3 pieces, such as an email address and you don't know the length of the middle part, try this (I just ran this on sqlserver 2012 so I know it works):
SELECT top 2000
emailaddr_ as email,
SUBSTRING(emailaddr_, 1,CHARINDEX('#',emailaddr_) -1) as username,
SUBSTRING(emailaddr_, CHARINDEX('#',emailaddr_)+1, (LEN(emailaddr_) - charindex('#',emailaddr_) - charindex('.',reverse(emailaddr_)) )) domain
FROM
emailTable
WHERE
charindex('#',emailaddr_)>0
AND
charindex('.',emailaddr_)>0;
GO
Hope this helps.

Resources