not DISTINCT but SIMILAR

  • I have legacy data (I did not do it, it's about 10 years before i came to the company) where the only way to identify the row is by the column "ContestName", the problem is that the values of "ContestName" are all different, but similar...

    Example:

    DanceContest1

    DanceContest2

    DanceContest3

    DanceContest4

    SongContest1

    SongContest2

    ContestGuitar1

    ContestGuitar2

    ContestGuitar3

    since there are hundreds of values I am trying to find a way to do a "Select Similar(Contestname)"

    to output into a dropdown box or something so I can then do a SELECT LIKE with the "similar" truncated value

    I have not been able to locate such function, but since I am a neophyte compared to most of you I figured it doesnt hurt to ask where to look. or if you have any ideas

    Thanks in advance!

  • What constitutes SIMILAR?

    ______________________________________________________________________

    Personal Motto: Why push the envelope when you can just open it?

    If you follow the direction given HERE[/url] you'll likely increase the number and quality of responses you get to your question.

    Jason L. Selburg
  • Well out of those examples I would say:

    DanceContest

    SongContest

    ContestGuitar

    would be the values i would like returned..

    Granted if the only way to do it is by several characters (say the first or last 10) then so be it

    I would just then to a like('DanceConte%') afterwards?

  • DECLARE@Sample TABLE (Info VARCHAR(100))

    INSERT@Sample

    SELECT'DanceContest1' UNION ALL

    SELECT'DanceContest2' UNION ALL

    SELECT'DanceContest3' UNION ALL

    SELECT'DanceContest4' UNION ALL

    SELECT'SongContest1' UNION ALL

    SELECT'SongContest2' UNION ALL

    SELECT'ContestGuitar1' UNION ALL

    SELECT'ContestGuitar2' UNION ALL

    SELECT'ContestGuitar3'

    SELECT DISTINCTLEFT(Info, PATINDEX('%[0-9]%', Info) - 1)

    FROM@Sample

    ORDER BY1


    N 56°04'39.16"
    E 12°55'05.25"

  • Peso beat me to it. 😛

    ______________________________________________________________________

    Personal Motto: Why push the envelope when you can just open it?

    If you follow the direction given HERE[/url] you'll likely increase the number and quality of responses you get to your question.

    Jason L. Selburg
  • Once again forgive the newb in me...

    But the SELECT 'whatever' UNION ALL part...

    Is that a necessary or were you using it as an example?

    .. that data was just an example, the actualy tale has about 30 thousdand rows most with different (but SIMILAR) "contestName' values

  • No, the first part is only to mimic your environment.

    We don't have access to your data.

    This is the part you need.

    SELECT DISTINCT LEFT(YourColHere, PATINDEX('%[0-9]%', YourColHere) - 1)

    FROM YourTableHere

    ORDER BY 1


    N 56°04'39.16"
    E 12°55'05.25"

  • You might also look into CONTAINSTABLE in BOL. It's a little more complicated, but I'd be willing to bet more flexibile and faster.

    ______________________________________________________________________

    Personal Motto: Why push the envelope when you can just open it?

    If you follow the direction given HERE[/url] you'll likely increase the number and quality of responses you get to your question.

    Jason L. Selburg
  • Thank you guys, I owe you a beer

  • ...and also look at CONTAINS.

    ______________________________________________________________________

    Personal Motto: Why push the envelope when you can just open it?

    If you follow the direction given HERE[/url] you'll likely increase the number and quality of responses you get to your question.

    Jason L. Selburg
  • Just remember that CONTAINS, CONTAINSTABLE, FREETEXT, and FREETEXTTABLE all require that Full Text Indexing is enabled and configured for the tables you're querying. 🙂



    --Mark Tassin
    MCITP - SQL Server DBA
    Proud member of the Anti-RBAR alliance.
    For help with Performance click this link[/url]
    For tips on how to post your problems[/url]

Viewing 11 posts - 1 through 10 (of 10 total)

You must be logged in to reply to this topic. Login to reply