Splitting a field in the middle ??

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Splitting a field in the middle ??

jbalbo

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March 19, 2015 at 12:11 pm

#302320

Hi
I have a field which looks like "LastName, FirstName (DOB: 01/01/1900)"
How do I get the "01/01/1900" between ":" and ")"
Thanks in Advance
Joe

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Alvin Ramard SSC-Forever Points: 41190 More actions · Answer 1

jbalbo (3/19/2015)
Hi
I have a field which looks like "LastName, FirstName (DOB: 01/01/1900)"
How do I get the "01/01/1900" between ":" and ")"
Thanks in Advance
Joe

I'd try something like:

DECLARE @TestString VARCHAR(50)

SET @TestString = 'LastName, FirstName (DOB: 01/01/1900)'

SELECT SUBSTRING(@TestString, CHARINDEX(':', @TestString) + 2, CHARINDEX(')', @TestString) - CHARINDEX(':', @TestString) - 2)

Alvin Ramard
Memphis PASS Chapter[/url]

All my SSC forum answers come with a money back guarantee. If you didn't like the answer then I'll gladly refund what you paid for it.

For best practices on asking questions, please read the following article: Forum Etiquette: How to post data/code on a forum to get the best help[/url]

jbalbo SSCertifiable Points: 7580 More actions · Answer 2

That works great, Thank You....

And if I looked at the table "Just a bit" closer I would have seen that DOB was there... lol

But I did learn something new!

Thanks Again

Alan Burstein SSC Guru Points: 61136 More actions · Answer 3

These problems are fun. If the data format is always the same (##/##/####) you could also do this:

DECLARE @TestString VARCHAR(50)

SET @TestString = 'LastName, FirstName (DOB: 01/01/1900)'

SELECT SUBSTRING(@TestString, PATINDEX('%[0-1][1-9]/%', @TestString),10);

"I cant stress enough the importance of switching from a sequential files mindset to set-based thinking. After you make the switch, you can spend your time tuning and optimizing your queries instead of maintaining lengthy, poor-performing code."

-- Itzik Ben-Gan 2001

Sean Lange SSC Guru Points: 286573 More actions · Answer 4

Alan.B (3/19/2015)
These problems are fun. If the data format is always the same (##/##/####) you could also do this:
DECLARE @TestString VARCHAR(50)
SET @TestString = 'LastName, FirstName (DOB: 01/01/1900)'
SELECT SUBSTRING(@TestString, PATINDEX('%[0-1][1-9]/%', @TestString),10);

I agree. It can be fun to see what other ways people come up with as an answer to string manipulation in sql.

Here is one:

select left(ltrim(PARSENAME(replace(@TestString, ':', '.'), 1)), 10)

--edit--

typo...again

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jbalbo SSCertifiable Points: 7580 More actions · Answer 5

I will definitely be able to use this for something, but I did find a problem with the formatting,

I got en error because one record had parenthesis in the name i.e.. (John Smith(aka jack) DOB: 01/01/1900)

Any ideas if not in the same structure?

Alvin Ramard SSC-Forever Points: 41190 More actions · Answer 6

jbalbo (3/19/2015)
I will definitely be able to use this for something, but I did find a problem with the formatting,
I got en error because one record had parenthesis in the name i.e.. (John Smith(aka jack) DOB: 01/01/1900)
Any ideas if not in the same structure?

AS long as there's no ":" in the string, this revised code should work:

DECLARE @TestString VARCHAR(50)

SET @TestString = 'LastName(s), FirstName(s) (DOB: 01/01/1900)'

SELECT SUBSTRING(@TestString, CHARINDEX(':', @TestString) + 2, CHARINDEX(')', @TestString, CHARINDEX(':', @TestString)) - CHARINDEX(':', @TestString) - 2)

This should work even if there is one or more ":" in the names:

DECLARE @TestString VARCHAR(50)

SET @TestString = 'LastName(s), FirstName(s) (DOB: 01/01/1900)'

SELECT SUBSTRING(@TestString, CHARINDEX('DOB:', @TestString) + 5, CHARINDEX(')', @TestString, CHARINDEX('DOB:', @TestString)) - CHARINDEX('DOB:', @TestString) - 5)

Alvin Ramard
Memphis PASS Chapter[/url]

All my SSC forum answers come with a money back guarantee. If you didn't like the answer then I'll gladly refund what you paid for it.

For best practices on asking questions, please read the following article: Forum Etiquette: How to post data/code on a forum to get the best help[/url]