I have the following query
SELECT
[DocID],
[Docunum],
[Comments] = REPLACE(REPLACE([Comments], CHAR(13), ''), CHAR(10), '')
FROM
[Billy].[dbo].[order]
WHERE
DocDate = '2017-12-20 00:00:00.000'
I was wondering if the replace function, actually changes the value in the database? My concern is that this is ERP and I do not want referential integrity problems. I only want to eliminate the carriage separators from the NVARCHAR column to avoid spacing issues while pasting in Excel. I do not want any values changed in the database.
Any feedback would be appreciated. I have searched and did not find anything that answered this specifically. If I missed something please post link for reference if possible.
Actually here you are using replace in Select query so it will not affect your database it will only affect your result which is returned by this query, so here you are safe.
Related
I'm using a PostgreSQL with a Go driver. Sometimes I need to query not existing fields, just to check - maybe something exists in a DB. Before querying I can't tell whether that field exists. Example:
where size=10 or length=10
By default I get an error column "length" does not exist, however, the size column could exist and I could get some results.
Is it possible to handle such cases to return what is possible?
EDIT:
Yes, I could get all the existing columns first. But the initial queries can be rather complex and not created by me directly, I can only modify them.
That means the query can be simple like the previous example and can be much more complex like this:
WHERE size=10 OR (length=10 AND n='example') OR (c BETWEEN 1 and 5 AND p='Mars')
If missing columns are length and c - does that mean I have to parse the SQL, split it by OR (or other operators), check every part of the query, then remove any part with missing columns - and in the end to generate a new SQL query?
Any easier way?
I would try to check within information schema first
"select column_name from INFORMATION_SCHEMA.COLUMNS where table_name ='table_name';"
And then based on result do query
Why don't you get a list of columns that are in the table first? Like this
select column_name
from information_schema.columns
where table_name = 'table_name' and (column_name = 'size' or column_name = 'length');
The result will be the columns that exist.
There is no way to do what you want, except for constructing an SQL string from the list of available columns, which can be got by querying information_schema.columns.
SQL statements are parsed before they are executed, and there is no conditional compilation or no short-circuiting, so you get an error if a non-existing column is referenced.
I have to produce a dynamically generated T-SQL script that inserts records into various tables. I've done a bunch of searching and testing but can't seem to find the path I'm looking for.
I know that the following is valid SQL:
INSERT INTO [MyTable] ( [Col1], [Col2], [Col3] )
SELECT N'Val1', N'Val2', N'Val3';
But, is it at all possible to write something akin to this:
INSERT INTO [MyTable]
SELECT [Col1] = N'Val1', [Col2] = N'Val2', [Col3] = N'Val3';
By having the columns in the select statement, I'm able to do it all at once vs writing 2 separate lines. Obviously my idea doesn't work, I'm trying to figure out whether something similar is possible or I need to stick with the first one.
Much appreciated.
Best practice for insert statements is to specify the columns list in the insert clause, and for very good reasons:
It's far more readable. You know exactly what value goes into what column.
You don't have to provide values to nullable \ default valued columns.
You're not bound to the order of the columns in the table.
In case a column is added to the table, your insert statement might not break (It will if the newly added column is not nullable and doesn't have a default value).
In some cases, SQL Server demands you specify the columns list explicitly, like when identity_insert is set to on.
And in any case, the column names or aliases in the select clause of the insert...select statement does not have any effect as to what target columns the value column should go to. values are directed to target based only on their location in the statement.
I have three different values in my database that represent a null: an actual null, an empty string, and a string {x:Null}. This value appears across multiple columns.
{x:Null} is normalized on the web front-end, so all these values look exactly the same although they end up ordered differently in a sort. How can I write a query that will take these values and make them actual nulls across every column and every table?
Bonus points if you can tell me how to make sure these other empty values are always inserted as nulls going forward. (Disclaimer: I have no power to grant any actual bonus points. ;)
You can query the information_schema to get a list of all tables and columns with a string type.
SELECT table_name, column_name
FROM information_schema.columns
WHERE data_type IN ('text', 'character', 'character varying')
NOTE double check first what values data_type has, I'm not sure if it will be character or char or what.
Then I would write a small program to update each column in each table. Here it is sketched out in Perl.
while( my($table, $column) = $sth->fetch ) {
my $q_table = $dbh->quote($table);
my $q_column = $dbh->quote($column);
$dbh->do(q[
UPDATE `$q_table`
SET `$q_column` = NULL
WHERE `$q_column` = '{x:Null}'
OR `$q_column` = ''
]);
}
Be sure to SQL escape $table and $column as in my sample.
Going forward, you'll have to set CONSTRAINTS on each and every column. You can use the information_schema.columns to do this as well. Something like
ALTER TABLE `$q_table` ADD CHECK(`$q_column` NOT IN ('{x:Null}', ''))
You could use a trigger to change the values to NULL, but I don't like data stores that silently change basic data for application purposes.
For new columns and tables, you'll have to remember to add that constraint. Same caveats about data_type apply.
However, it's probably a bad idea to say that no column can ever be an empty string. You might want to be bit more selective.
Another thing to note: NULL is a funny thing, its not true and its not false. You might be better off deciding that an empty string is the thing to set empty values to.
I don't think this approach is maintainable. It's scribbling an application rule all over the data layer. What if you have some data that doesn't follow that rule? And it will have to be continuously maintained for any new data schema added. Perhaps instead you should put this at your ORM layer. Or write a few stored procedures to take care of this.
Using the information_schema.columns table, write a procedural language routine which iterates through all applicable tables and columns, executing an update... set *column* = NULL...where column in ('','{x:Null}'). for each eligible column.
As for inserting these values as NULL going forward, you would have to set triggers on your tables to intercept these values and replace them with NULL.
I don't think there is any query that would do this thing for every table and every column. In principle, what you want to do is
UPDATE table SET column=NULL WHERE column='' OR column='{x:Null}';
You could try selecting data from the pg_attribute and pg_class columns to get the names of the tables and names of the columns and then generating automatically the queries. Be sure to select only those columns that contain textual data.
What if somebody has entered a genuine string '{x:Null}'? You would then change it into NULL.
However, you have done a real mistake by letting the situation to be as bad as it's currently. You should always normalize data before putting it into a database.
Wondering if there is a way to query a SQL Server database and somehow format columns to omit commas in the data if there is any.
Reason for asking is I have 10000+ records and through out the data the varchar have data like 3,25% and other 1%.
I'd prefer not to alter the data in the original table thus asking if a select with other functions would do the trick.
I have thought about selecting all the data into a temp table and stripping the commas but that is a lot of work for every time I do the query.
Any info or if its is possible please reply.
Take a look at the REPLACE function:
SELECT REPLACE(YourColumn, ',', '')
FROM YourTable
Use SQL REPLACE :
REPLACE(YourField,',','')
In a similar vein to my previous question I again ask the SO guys for your collective wisdom and help.
In a stored procedure and after passing some checks I need to insert a new row and return the newly created id for it. The check if a row exists works so it is the bit after that which I am undecided upon.
The table has two important columns: The LocationID and the CaseID. The CaseID is autoincrementing, so when you add insert a new locationid it will automatically rachet up.
I currently have this:
-- previous checks for existance of CaseID
IF #CaseID IS NULL
BEGIN
INSERT INTO
Cases(LocationID)
VALUES
(#LocationID)
-- what now?
END
I was thinking of performing a #CaseID = (SELECT blah) statement immeadiately after but I was wondering if there is a better way?
Is there a better way? How would you do this?
SELECT #CaseID = SCOPE_IDENTITY()
In fact, you can just do (if that's the end of the stored proc.):
SELECT SCOPE_IDENTITY()
(The OUTPUT clause is only available in SQL Server 2005 onwards...)
Ref: SCOPE_IDENTITY
scope_identity()
SELECT SCOPE_IDENTITY()
As others mentioned, SCOPE_IDENTITY() is the way to go, though some ORM tools provide this functionality as well.
The only thing you need to remember is SCOPE_IDENTITY() will return the last identity key value generated during the current session only. This is useful in filtering out new keys which may have been created by other clients simultaneously. SELECT ##IDENTITY will return the last key generated by any client/session.
You need to use the OUTPUT clause
http://blog.jemm.net/articles/databases/how-to-using-sql-server-2005s-output-to-return-generated-identity/
...which, as pointed out, is only available in sqlserver 2005. Plz disregard.