Parse strings to get select output

Question

Parse strings to get select output

Black Mamba

Right there with Babe

Points: 786
More actions
November 26, 2009 at 1:18 pm

#218047

Hi i have a field with following value :
USE TESTTABLE
GO
CREATE TABLE Example (
Description varchar(500))
GO
INSERT INTO [TESTTABLE].[dbo].[Example] ([Description])
VALUES ('hello This is a test query. Thank you.
Please be advised of the following :
Name: Doe,John
ID: 123456
Preferred Name: None
Type: My type
Class: My Class
Last Day of Year: 31-Dec-2009
Domain: MYDomain
Username: My Username
Email: my@email.com
Contact: Jane,Mary')
GO
INSERT INTO [TESTTABLE].[dbo].[Example] ([Description])
VALUES ('hello This is a test query. Thank you.
Please be advised of the following :
Name:Doe, John
ID: 123456
Preferred Name: None
Type: My type
Class: My Class
Last Day of Year: 31-Dec-2009
Domain: MYDomain
Username: My Username
Email: my@email.com
Contact: Jane,Mary')
GO
INSERT INTO [TESTTABLE].[dbo].[Example] ([Description])
VALUES ('hello This is a test query. Thank you.
Please be advised of the following :
Name: Doe,John
ID: 123456
Preferred Name: None
Type: My type
Class: My Class
Last Day of Year: 31-Dec-2009
Domain: MYDomain
Username: My Username
Email: my@email.com
Contact: Jane,Mary')
GO
I want to extract three things from the above data stored ina single field
1. LAST NAME (All characters before COMMA till a special character is met)
2. FIRST NAME (All characters AFTER COMMA till a special character is met)
2. ID (All numbers after the word ID. Ignore all special characters before and after the numbers)
The Output will be :
FIRST NAME LAST NAME ID
John Doe 123456
John Doe 123456
John Doe 123456
Please help how can I use substrings to extract this data in SQL 2005

Viewing 8 posts - 1 through 7 (of 7 total)

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Jeff Moden SSC Guru Points: 1004340 More actions · Answer 1

This should do it... the double-split on name required an extra step. Doing it in steps like this is actually a bit faster than trying to do it all in one big formula.

WITH

cteSplit1 AS

(--==== Split out the begining of the two basic parts

SELECT LTRIM(SUBSTRING(Description,CHARINDEX('Name:',Description)+5,8000)) AS NamePart,

LTRIM(SUBSTRING(Description,CHARINDEX('ID:' ,Description)+3,8000)) AS IDPart

FROM dbo.Example

)

,

cteSplit2 AS

(--==== Continue splitting to finer resolution

SELECT LTRIM(SUBSTRING(NamePart,CHARINDEX(',',NamePart)+1,8000)) AS FirstPart,

SUBSTRING(NamePart,1,CHARINDEX(',',NamePart)-1) AS LastName,

SUBSTRING(IDPart,1,PATINDEX('%[^0-9]%',IDPart)-1) AS ID

FROM cteSplit1

)

--===== Final split on name to get the first name and show all the rest

SELECT SUBSTRING(FirstPart,1,CHARINDEX(CHAR(13),FirstPart)-1) AS FirstName,

LastName,

ID

FROM cteSplit2

--Jeff Moden

RBAR is pronounced "ree-bar" and is a "Modenism" for Row-By-Agonizing-Row.
First step towards the paradigm shift of writing Set Based code:
________Stop thinking about what you want to do to a ROW... think, instead, of what you want to do to a COLUMN.

Change is inevitable... Change for the better is not.

Helpful Links:
How to post code problems
How to Post Performance Problems
Create a Tally Function (fnTally)

dmoldovan SSCertifiable Points: 6334 More actions · Answer 2

This can also be done in .NET using regular expressions...

Black Mamba Right there with Babe Points: 786 More actions · Answer 3

Thanks for your help guys.

It worked great. I'm so happy :):-D

Black Mamba Right there with Babe Points: 786 More actions · Answer 4

In fact there is a small problem.I get the error message

Invalid length parameter passed to the substring function.

I have an idea that it couldbe happenig because of null/ negative values but I'm not able to incorporate nullifor such statement into it.

If I can get some help,tat wud be great.

Jeff Moden SSC Guru Points: 1004340 More actions · Answer 5

It would be a help if you could post the data that caused the problem. Thanks.

--Jeff Moden

RBAR is pronounced "ree-bar" and is a "Modenism" for Row-By-Agonizing-Row.
First step towards the paradigm shift of writing Set Based code:
________Stop thinking about what you want to do to a ROW... think, instead, of what you want to do to a COLUMN.

Change is inevitable... Change for the better is not.

Helpful Links:
How to post code problems
How to Post Performance Problems
Create a Tally Function (fnTally)

Black Mamba Right there with Babe Points: 786 More actions · Answer 6

This is the exact data with minor modifications (The entire text goes into a single field and i need to extract first name, last name, middle name if present, and ID):

HelloWorld - My Email

This message may contain old / new information. If you are not the addressee or authorized to receive this for the addressee, you must not use, copy, disclose, or take any action based on this message or any information herein. If you have received this message in error, please advise the sender immediately by reply e-mail and delete this message. Thank you for your cooperation.

Please be advised of the following information:

Name: Doe,John

ID: 123456

Preferred Name: Doe,John

Type: Mytype

Mytype / yourtype: MyType

Class: Myclass

First Day of Month: 01-Dec-2009

Last Day : 31-Dec-2009

Address: 355 - Max street

Post Bag: 2053 - Mypostbag

Office: 2010 - Office - Myoffice

Location: My Location new

Friend's Name: Jane,Mary

Friend's Location: friendloc

Region: XY

alaisname: jonny

Email: john@doe.com

Emergency Contact: Hunt,Ethan

Jeff Moden SSC Guru Points: 1004340 More actions · Answer 7

I can't get it to fail with any of the data you've provided. Then only thing that I can think of is...

1) Maybe you're providing the wrong line of data as a failure. Do all of the lines have both a NAME and ID "field"? If they don't, that will cause a failure that we'll need to fix with ISNULL.

2) Maybe there's a different special character at the end of each "field". My code is using CHAR(13) (ie:Carriage Return). Perhaps the actual data is using CHAR(10) (ie:New Line or Line Feed) or maybe it's using some combination of CHAR(13) and CHAR(10). For that matter, maybe it's using a "Vertical Tab" (CHAR(11) if memory serves correctly). You need to find out what the special character(s) is(are) between the fields for this to work correctly.

--Jeff Moden

RBAR is pronounced "ree-bar" and is a "Modenism" for Row-By-Agonizing-Row.
First step towards the paradigm shift of writing Set Based code:
________Stop thinking about what you want to do to a ROW... think, instead, of what you want to do to a COLUMN.

Change is inevitable... Change for the better is not.

Helpful Links:
How to post code problems
How to Post Performance Problems
Create a Tally Function (fnTally)