PROGRESS DB extract string between semi colons - INSTR Function error - tsql

Question

I'm querying a Progress DB via an OpenQuery in MS SQL Server.
I have a field (addr) that contains a string value in the below format:
text123; text 456; text 789; text 1011
I need to extract each value before the semi colon ; for separate columns
In T SQL I would do this using the below to extract the first part:
SELECT
SUBSTRING(addr,1,CHARINDEX(';', addr,1) - 1)
FROM MyTable
However, in Progress there is no CHARINDEX, but INSTR
This is my Openquery:
SELECT * FROM OPENQUERY (MyServer, 'SELECT addr, SUBSTRING("addr",1,INSTR('';'', "addr",1) - 1) as test FROM MyTable')
But I receive the following error:
OLE DB provider "MSDASQL" for linked server "MyServer" returned message "[DataDirect][ODBC Progress OpenEdge Wire Protocol driver]Error in row.".
What am I missing?

Answer 1

Here's how I would handle this...
PostgreSQL:
WITH -- YUOUR TEXT HERE:
someString AS (SELECT 'text123; text 456; text 789; text 1011' AS txt), -- Can come in as a variable
a AS (SELECT N FROM (VALUES(1),(1),(1),(1),(1),(1),(1),(1),(1),(1)) AS x(N)),
iTally(N) AS
(
SELECT 0 UNION ALL
SELECT ROW_NUMBER() OVER (ORDER BY (SELECT NULL))
FROM a, a AS b, a AS c, a AS d
),
ngrams(N,Token) AS
(
SELECT N, SUBSTRING(txt from N::integer for 1)
FROM iTally
CROSS JOIN someString
WHERE N <= CHAR_LENGTH(txt)
)
SELECT
ROW_NUMBER() OVER (ORDER BY (SELECT NULL)) AS ItemNumber,
(N+1) AS ItemIndex,
len AS ItemLength,
SUBSTRING(ntxt from 1 for len) AS Item
FROM ngrams
CROSS JOIN someString
CROSS JOIN LATERAL (VALUES(SUBSTRING(txt from (N+1)::integer for CHAR_LENGTH(txt)))) AS eg(ntxt)
CROSS JOIN LATERAL (VALUES(COALESCE(NULLIF(strpos(ntxt,';'),0),CHAR_LENGTH(ntxt))-1)) AS item(len)
WHERE N = 0 OR token LIKE ';%';
Results:
ItemNumber ItemIndex ItemLength Item
----------- ---------- ----------- -----------
1 1 7 text123
2 9 9 text 456
3 19 9 text 789
4 29 9 text 101
A little trimming may be needed for the return item

Answer 2

Extent / array fields in Progress OpenEdge are also shown as separated by a semi-colon when viewed from SQL92, if this is an extent / array field, then you can simply use:
addr[1]
If it is not, then you can use instr, but you will need to use the correct syntax. The first parameter is the string, the second is what you want to find in it. Note the extra + ';' below to ensure the string always ends with a semi-colon:
substr( addr, 1, instr( addr + ';', ';', 1 ) - 1 )
If you not only want the first, but the second or the third, then it gits a bit trickier:
select
addr,
substring( addr, 1, instr( addr + ';', ';', 1, 1 ) ) as '#1' ,
case
when instr( addr, ';', 1, 1 ) > 0 then
substring( addr, instr( addr, ';', 1, 1 ), instr( addr + ';', ';', 1, 2 ) - instr( addr, ';', 1, 1 ) )
else
''
end as '#2' ,
case
when instr( addr, ';', 1, 2 ) > 0 then
substring( addr, instr( addr, ';', 1, 2 ), instr( addr + ';', ';', 1, 3 ) - instr( addr, ';', 1, 2 ) )
else
''
end as '#3'
from ...
All of the above has been tested from PDSOE (Eclipse) using the JDBC driver. Assuming OPENQUERY does not corrupt anything along the way, you should be fine.