DECLARE #str VARCHAR (MAX);
SELECT #str = COALESCE(#str + CHAR(10), '') +
'EXECUTE CreateDeno ' + CAST(ID AS VARCHAR)
FROM GL_To_Batch_Details
WHERE TYPE = 'C' AND
Deno_ID IS NULL;
--PRINT #str;--SELECT #str;
**EXEC(#str);**
EDITED
Does EXECUTE statement truncate strings to 8,000 chars like PRINT? How can I execute a dynamic SQL statement having more than 8,000 chars?
Any suggestion would be warmly appreciated.
PRINT is limited to 8k in output.
There is also an 8k limit in SSMS results pane.
Go to
tools -> options -> query results
to see the options.
To verify the length of the actual data, check:
SELECT LEN(#str)
When concatenating strings and the result is of type VARCHAR(MAX) and is over 8000 characters, at least one parameter and/or element being used in the concatenation need to be of the VARCHAR(MAX) type otherwise truncation will occur in the resultant string and will not be executable in an EXEC statement.
Example:
DECLARE #sql AS VARCHAR(MAX);
/* DECLARE #someItem AS VARCHAR(100); -- WILL CAUSE TRUNCATION WHEN #sql HAS LEN > 8000 */
DECLARE #someItem AS VARCHAR(MAX); -- All string variables need to be VARCHAR(MAX) when concatenating to another VARCHAR(MAX)
SET #someItem = 'Just assume the resulting #sql variable goes over 8000 characters...';
SET #sql = 'SELECT Something FROM Somewhere WHERE SomeField = ''' + #someItem + '''';
EXEC (#sql);
--PRINT #sql;
More information on MSDN.
"If the result of the concatenation of strings exceeds the limit of
8,000 bytes, the result is truncated. However, if at least one of the
strings concatenated is a large value type, truncation does not
occur."
The default length of a varchar is 30 characters:
CAST (ID AS VARCHAR)
Is it possible that id is longer than 30 characters?
The PRINT command is certainly limited to 8000 chars, irrespective of the length of the output (or whether it is varchar(max)). To work around this you need to output the string in chunks of <8000 chars
Update: In answer to your edit, exec doesn't limit the string length. I've put together the following example to show this:
DECLARE #str VARCHAR (MAX);
;WITH CTE_Count AS
(
select counter = 1
union all
select counter = counter+1
from CTE_Count
Where counter < 2000
)
SELECT
#str=COALESCE(#str + CHAR (10) ,
'' ) + 'select value=' + CAST (counter AS VARCHAR)
from
CTE_Count
Option (MAXRECURSION 0)
PRINT len(#str);--SELECT #str;
exec (#str)
Running this prints the length as 34892 chars, and all 2000 execute statements do run (be warned, it may take a few mins!)
It happens when you concatenate literals if one is not a varchar(max) the result ill be "implicit casted" to varchar(8000).
To generate a literal varchar(max) all parts must be varchar(max).
Note: It happened to me doing updates on varchar(max) columns, never tested with the EXEC command.
Also as noted in previous answers the print command holds a limit but you can try selecting that variable instead of printing it. (also ther's a limit on that select length you can configure on MS-SMS)
I also wanted to see what I was sending to Exec, and was confused by the PRINT limit. Had to write a proc to print in chunks.
CREATE PROCEDURE [dbo].[KFX_PrintVarcharMax]
#strMax varchar(max)
AS
BEGIN
SET NOCOUNT ON;
DECLARE
#index int = 0,
#start int = 1,
#blkSize int = 2000;
WHILE #Start < LEN(#strMax)
BEGIN
IF #start + #blkSize >= LEN(#strMax)
BEGIN
-- If remainder is less than blocksize print the remainder, and exit.
PRINT SUBSTRING(#strMax, #start, #blkSize)
BREAK;
END
-- Else find the next terminator (beyond the blksize)
SET #index = CHARINDEX(CHAR(10), #strMax, #start + #blkSize);
if #index >= #start
BEGIN
PRINT SubString(#strMax, #start, #index - #start + 1)
SET #start = #index + 1;
SET #blkSize = CASE WHEN #start + 2000 < LEN(#strMax) THEN 2000
ELSE LEN(#strMax) - #start + 1 END
END
ELSE
BEGIN
-- No char(10) found. Just print the rest.
PRINT SUBSTRING(#strMax, #start, LEN(#strMax))
BREAK;
END
END
END
Quick check to see if anyone has or knows of a T-SQL function capable of generating slugs from a given nvarchar input. i.e;
"Hello World" > "hello-world"
"This is a test" > "this-is-a-test"
I have a C# function that I normally use for these purposes, but in this case I have a large amount of data to parse and turn into slugs, so it makes more sense to do it on the SQL Server rather than have to transfer data over the wire.
As an aside, I don't have Remote Desktop access to the box so I can't run code (.net, Powershell etc) against it
Thanks in advance.
EDIT:
As per request, here's the function I generally use to generate slugs:
public static string GenerateSlug(string n, int maxLength)
{
string s = n.ToLower();
s = Regex.Replace(s, #"[^a-z0-9s-]", "");
s = Regex.Replace(s, #"[s-]+", " ").Trim();
s = s.Substring(0, s.Length <= maxLength ? s.Length : maxLength).Trim();
s = Regex.Replace(s, #"s", "-");
return s;
}
You can use LOWER and REPLACE to do this:
SELECT REPLACE(LOWER(origString), ' ', '-')
FROM myTable
For wholesale update of the column (the code sets the slug column according to the value of the origString column:
UPDATE myTable
SET slug = REPLACE(LOWER(origString), ' ', '-')
This is what I've come up with as a solution. Feel free to fix / modify where needed.
I should mention that the database I'm currently developing against is case insensitive hence the LOWER(#str).
CREATE FUNCTION [dbo].[UDF_GenerateSlug]
(
#str VARCHAR(100)
)
RETURNS VARCHAR(100)
AS
BEGIN
DECLARE #IncorrectCharLoc SMALLINT
SET #str = LOWER(#str)
SET #IncorrectCharLoc = PATINDEX('%[^0-9a-z ]%',#str)
WHILE #IncorrectCharLoc > 0
BEGIN
SET #str = STUFF(#str,#incorrectCharLoc,1,'')
SET #IncorrectCharLoc = PATINDEX('%[^0-9a-z ]%',#str)
END
SET #str = REPLACE(#str,' ','-')
RETURN #str
END
Mention to: http://blog.sqlauthority.com/2007/05/13/sql-server-udf-function-to-parse-alphanumeric-characters-from-string/ for the original code.
I know this is an old thread, but for future generation, I found one function that deals even with accents here:
CREATE function [dbo].[slugify](#string varchar(4000))
RETURNS varchar(4000) AS BEGIN
declare #out varchar(4000)
--convert to ASCII
set #out = lower(#string COLLATE SQL_Latin1_General_CP1251_CS_AS)
declare #pi int
--I'm sorry T-SQL have no regex. Thanks for patindex, MS .. :-)
set #pi = patindex('%[^a-z0-9 -]%',#out)
while #pi>0 begin
set #out = replace(#out, substring(#out,#pi,1), '')
--set #out = left(#out,#pi-1) + substring(#out,#pi+1,8000)
set #pi = patindex('%[^a-z0-9 -]%',#out)
end
set #out = ltrim(rtrim(#out))
-- replace space to hyphen
set #out = replace(#out, ' ', '-')
-- remove double hyphen
while CHARINDEX('--', #out) > 0 set #out = replace(#out, '--', '-')
return (#out)
END
Here's a variation of Jeremy's response. This might not technically be slugifying since I'm doing a couple of custom things like replacing "." with "-dot-", and stripping out apostrophes. Main improvement is this one also strips out all consecutive spaces, and doesn't strip out preexisting dashes.
create function dbo.Slugify(#str nvarchar(max)) returns nvarchar(max)
as
begin
declare #IncorrectCharLoc int
set #str = replace(replace(lower(#str),'.',' dot '),'''','')
-- remove non alphanumerics:
set #IncorrectCharLoc = patindex('%[^0-9a-z -]%',#str)
while #IncorrectCharLoc > 0
begin
set #str = stuff(#str,#incorrectCharLoc,1,' ')
set #IncorrectCharLoc = patindex('%[^0-9a-z -]%',#str)
end
-- remove consecutive spaces:
while charindex(' ',#str) > 0
begin
set #str = replace(#str, ' ', ' ')
end
set #str = replace(#str,' ','-')
return #str
end
I took Jeremy's response a couple steps further by removing all consecutive dashes even after spaces are replaced, and removed leading and trailing dashes.
create function dbo.Slugify(#str nvarchar(max)) returns nvarchar(max) as
begin
declare #IncorrectCharLoc int
set #str = replace(replace(lower(#str),'.','-'),'''','')
-- remove non alphanumerics:
set #IncorrectCharLoc = patindex('%[^0-9a-z -]%',#str)
while #IncorrectCharLoc > 0
begin
set #str = stuff(#str,#incorrectCharLoc,1,' ')
set #IncorrectCharLoc = patindex('%[^0-9a-z -]%',#str)
end
-- replace all spaces with dashes
set #str = replace(#str,' ','-')
-- remove consecutive dashes:
while charindex('--',#str) > 0
begin
set #str = replace(#str, '--', '-')
end
-- remove leading dashes
while charindex('-', #str) = 1
begin
set #str = RIGHT(#str, len(#str) - 1)
end
-- remove trailing dashes
while len(#str) > 0 AND substring(#str, len(#str), 1) = '-'
begin
set #str = LEFT(#str, len(#str) - 1)
end
return #str
end
-- Converts a title such as "This is a Test" to an all lower case string such
-- as "this-is-a-test" for use as the slug in a URL. All runs of separators
-- (whitespace, underscore, or hyphen) are converted to a single hyphen.
-- This is implemented as a state machine having the following four states:
--
-- 0 - initial state
-- 1 - in a sequence consisting of valid characters (a-z, A-Z, or 0-9)
-- 2 - in a sequence of separators (whitespace, underscore, or hyphen)
-- 3 - encountered a character that is neither valid nor a separator
--
-- Once the next state has been determined, the return value string is
-- built based on the transitions from the current state to the next state.
--
-- State 0 skips any initial whitespace. State 1 includes all valid slug
-- characters. State 2 converts multiple separators into a single hyphen
-- and skips trailing whitespace. State 3 skips any punctuation between
-- between characters and, if no additional whitespace is encountered,
-- then the punctuation is not treated as a word separator.
--
CREATE FUNCTION ToSlug(#title AS NVARCHAR(MAX))
RETURNS VARCHAR(MAX)
AS
BEGIN
DECLARE #retval AS VARCHAR(MAX) = ''; -- return value
DECLARE #i AS INT = 1; -- title index
DECLARE #c AS CHAR(1); -- current character
DECLARE #state AS INT = 0; -- current state
DECLARE #nextState AS INT; -- next state
DECLARE #tab AS CHAR(1) = CHAR(9); -- tab
DECLARE #lf AS CHAR(1) = CHAR(10); -- line feed
DECLARE #cr AS CHAR(1) = CHAR(13); -- carriage return
DECLARE #separators AS CHAR(8) = '[' + #tab + #lf + #cr + ' _-]';
DECLARE #validchars AS CHAR(11) = '[a-zA-Z0-9]';
WHILE (#i <= LEN(#title))
BEGIN
SELECT #c = SUBSTRING(#title, #i, 1),
#nextState = CASE
WHEN #c LIKE #validchars THEN 1
WHEN #state = 0 THEN 0
WHEN #state = 1 THEN CASE
WHEN #c LIKE #separators THEN 2
ELSE 3 -- unknown character
END
WHEN #state = 2 THEN 2
WHEN #state = 3 THEN CASE
WHEN #c LIKE #separators THEN 2
ELSE 3 -- stay in state 3
END
END,
#retval = #retval + CASE
WHEN #nextState != 1 THEN ''
WHEN #state = 0 THEN LOWER(#c)
WHEN #state = 1 THEN LOWER(#c)
WHEN #state = 2 THEN '-' + LOWER(#c)
WHEN #state = 3 THEN LOWER(#c)
END,
#state = #nextState,
#i = #i + 1
END
RETURN #retval;
END
To slug with Vietnamese unicode
CREATE function [dbo].[toslug](#string nvarchar(4000))
RETURNS varchar(4000) AS BEGIN
declare #out nvarchar(4000)
declare #from nvarchar(255)
declare #to varchar(255)
--convert to ASCII dbo.slugify
set #string = lower(#string)
set #out = #string
set #from = N'ýỳỷỹỵáàảãạâấầẩẫậăắằẳẵặéèẻẽẹêếềểễệúùủũụưứừửữựíìỉĩịóòỏõọơớờởỡợôốồổỗộđ·/_,:;'
set #to = 'yyyyyaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaeeeeeeeeeeeuuuuuuuuuuuiiiiioooooooooooooooood------'
declare #pi int
set #pi = 1
--I'm sorry T-SQL have no regex. Thanks for patindex, MS .. :-)
while #pi<=len(#from) begin
set #out = replace(#out, substring(#from,#pi,1), substring(#to,#pi,1))
set #pi = #pi + 1
end
set #out = ltrim(rtrim(#out))
-- replace space to hyphen
set #out = replace(#out, ' ', '-')
-- remove double hyphen
while CHARINDEX('--', #out) > 0 set #out = replace(#out, '--', '-')
return (#out)
END
I'm looking for a built-in function/extended function in T-SQL for string manipulation similar to the String.Format method in .NET.
If you are using SQL Server 2012 and above, you can use FORMATMESSAGE. eg.
DECLARE #s NVARCHAR(50) = 'World';
DECLARE #d INT = 123;
SELECT FORMATMESSAGE('Hello %s, %d', #s, #d)
-- RETURNS 'Hello World, 123'
More examples from MSDN: FORMATMESSAGE
SELECT FORMATMESSAGE('Signed int %i, %d %i, %d, %+i, %+d, %+i, %+d', 5, -5, 50, -50, -11, -11, 11, 11);
SELECT FORMATMESSAGE('Signed int with leading zero %020i', 5);
SELECT FORMATMESSAGE('Signed int with leading zero 0 %020i', -55);
SELECT FORMATMESSAGE('Unsigned int %u, %u', 50, -50);
SELECT FORMATMESSAGE('Unsigned octal %o, %o', 50, -50);
SELECT FORMATMESSAGE('Unsigned hexadecimal %x, %X, %X, %X, %x', 11, 11, -11, 50, -50);
SELECT FORMATMESSAGE('Unsigned octal with prefix: %#o, %#o', 50, -50);
SELECT FORMATMESSAGE('Unsigned hexadecimal with prefix: %#x, %#X, %#X, %X, %x', 11, 11, -11, 50, -50);
SELECT FORMATMESSAGE('Hello %s!', 'TEST');
SELECT FORMATMESSAGE('Hello %20s!', 'TEST');
SELECT FORMATMESSAGE('Hello %-20s!', 'TEST');
SELECT FORMATMESSAGE('Hello %20s!', 'TEST');
NOTES:
Undocumented in 2012
Limited to 2044 characters
To escape the % sign, you need to double it.
If you are logging errors in extended events, calling FORMATMESSAGE comes up as a (harmless) error
take a look at xp_sprintf. example below.
DECLARE #ret_string varchar (255)
EXEC xp_sprintf #ret_string OUTPUT,
'INSERT INTO %s VALUES (%s, %s)', 'table1', '1', '2'
PRINT #ret_string
Result looks like this:
INSERT INTO table1 VALUES (1, 2)
Just found an issue with the max size (255 char limit) of the string with this so there is an alternative function you can use:
create function dbo.fnSprintf (#s varchar(MAX),
#params varchar(MAX), #separator char(1) = ',')
returns varchar(MAX)
as
begin
declare #p varchar(MAX)
declare #paramlen int
set #params = #params + #separator
set #paramlen = len(#params)
while not #params = ''
begin
set #p = left(#params+#separator, charindex(#separator, #params)-1)
set #s = STUFF(#s, charindex('%s', #s), 2, #p)
set #params = substring(#params, len(#p)+2, #paramlen)
end
return #s
end
To get the same result as above you call the function as follows:
print dbo.fnSprintf('INSERT INTO %s VALUES (%s, %s)', 'table1,1,2', default)
I have created a user defined function to mimic the string.format functionality.
You can use it.
stringformat-in-sql
UPDATE:
This version allows the user to change the delimitter.
-- DROP function will loose the security settings.
IF object_id('[dbo].[svfn_FormatString]') IS NOT NULL
DROP FUNCTION [dbo].[svfn_FormatString]
GO
CREATE FUNCTION [dbo].[svfn_FormatString]
(
#Format NVARCHAR(4000),
#Parameters NVARCHAR(4000),
#Delimiter CHAR(1) = ','
)
RETURNS NVARCHAR(MAX)
AS
BEGIN
/*
Name: [dbo].[svfn_FormatString]
Creation Date: 12/18/2020
Purpose: Returns the formatted string (Just like in C-Sharp)
Input Parameters: #Format = The string to be Formatted
#Parameters = The comma separated list of parameters
#Delimiter = The delimitter to be used in the formatting process
Format: #Format = N'Hi {0}, Welcome to our site {1}. Thank you {0}'
#Parameters = N'Karthik,google.com'
#Delimiter = ','
Examples:
SELECT dbo.svfn_FormatString(N'Hi {0}, Welcome to our site {1}. Thank you {0}', N'Karthik,google.com', default)
SELECT dbo.svfn_FormatString(N'Hi {0}, Welcome to our site {1}. Thank you {0}', N'Karthik;google.com', ';')
*/
DECLARE #Message NVARCHAR(400)
DECLARE #ParamTable TABLE ( Id INT IDENTITY(0,1), Paramter VARCHAR(1000))
SELECT #Message = #Format
;WITH CTE (StartPos, EndPos) AS
(
SELECT 1, CHARINDEX(#Delimiter, #Parameters)
UNION ALL
SELECT EndPos + (LEN(#Delimiter)), CHARINDEX(#Delimiter, #Parameters, EndPos + (LEN(#Delimiter)))
FROM CTE
WHERE EndPos > 0
)
INSERT INTO #ParamTable ( Paramter )
SELECT
[Id] = SUBSTRING(#Parameters, StartPos, CASE WHEN EndPos > 0 THEN EndPos - StartPos ELSE 4000 END )
FROM CTE
UPDATE #ParamTable
SET
#Message = REPLACE(#Message, '{'+ CONVERT(VARCHAR, Id) + '}', Paramter )
RETURN #Message
END
There is a way, but it has its limitations. You can use the FORMATMESSAGE() function. It allows you to format a string using formatting similar to the printf() function in C.
However, the biggest limitation is that it will only work with messages in the sys.messages table. Here's an article about it: microsoft_library_ms186788
It's kind of a shame there isn't an easier way to do this, because there are times when you want to format a string/varchar in the database. Hopefully you are only looking to format a string in a standard way and can use the sys.messages table.
Coincidentally, you could also use the RAISERROR() function with a very low severity, the documentation for raiseerror even mentions doing this, but the results are only printed. So you wouldn't be able to do anything with the resulting value (from what I understand).
Good luck!
Raw t-sql is limited to CHARINDEX(), PATINDEX(), REPLACE(), and SUBSTRING() for string manipulation. But with sql server 2005 and later you can set up user defined functions that run in .Net, which means setting up a string.format() UDF shouldn't be too tough.
I think there is small correction while calculating end position.
Here is correct function
**>>**IF OBJECT_ID( N'[dbo].[FormatString]', 'FN' ) IS NOT NULL
DROP FUNCTION [dbo].[FormatString]
GO
/***************************************************
Object Name : FormatString
Purpose : Returns the formatted string.
Original Author : Karthik D V http://stringformat-in-sql.blogspot.com/
Sample Call:
SELECT dbo.FormatString ( N'Format {0} {1} {2} {0}', N'1,2,3' )
*******************************************/
CREATE FUNCTION [dbo].[FormatString](
#Format NVARCHAR(4000) ,
#Parameters NVARCHAR(4000)
)
RETURNS NVARCHAR(4000)
AS
BEGIN
--DECLARE #Format NVARCHAR(4000), #Parameters NVARCHAR(4000) select #format='{0}{1}', #Parameters='hello,world'
DECLARE #Message NVARCHAR(400), #Delimiter CHAR(1)
DECLARE #ParamTable TABLE ( ID INT IDENTITY(0,1), Parameter VARCHAR(1000) )
Declare #startPos int, #endPos int
SELECT #Message = #Format, #Delimiter = ','**>>**
--handle first parameter
set #endPos=CHARINDEX(#Delimiter,#Parameters)
if (#endPos=0 and #Parameters is not null) --there is only one parameter
insert into #ParamTable (Parameter) values(#Parameters)
else begin
insert into #ParamTable (Parameter) select substring(#Parameters,0,#endPos)
end
while #endPos>0
Begin
--insert a row for each parameter in the
set #startPos = #endPos + LEN(#Delimiter)
set #endPos = CHARINDEX(#Delimiter,#Parameters, #startPos)
if (#endPos>0)
insert into #ParamTable (Parameter)
select substring(#Parameters,#startPos,#endPos - #startPos)
else
insert into #ParamTable (Parameter)
select substring(#Parameters,#startPos,4000)
End
UPDATE #ParamTable SET #Message =
REPLACE ( #Message, '{'+CONVERT(VARCHAR,ID) + '}', Parameter )
RETURN #Message
END
Go
grant execute,references on dbo.formatString to public
One more idea.
Although this is not a universal solution - it is simple and works, at least for me :)
For one placeholder {0}:
create function dbo.Format1
(
#String nvarchar(4000),
#Param0 sql_variant
)
returns nvarchar(4000)
as
begin
declare #Null nvarchar(4) = N'NULL';
return replace(#String, N'{0}', cast(isnull(#Param0, #Null) as nvarchar(4000)));
end
For two placeholders {0} and {1}:
create function dbo.Format2
(
#String nvarchar(4000),
#Param0 sql_variant,
#Param1 sql_variant
)
returns nvarchar(4000)
as
begin
declare #Null nvarchar(4) = N'NULL';
set #String = replace(#String, N'{0}', cast(isnull(#Param0, #Null) as nvarchar(4000)));
return replace(#String, N'{1}', cast(isnull(#Param1, #Null) as nvarchar(4000)));
end
For three placeholders {0}, {1} and {2}:
create function dbo.Format3
(
#String nvarchar(4000),
#Param0 sql_variant,
#Param1 sql_variant,
#Param2 sql_variant
)
returns nvarchar(4000)
as
begin
declare #Null nvarchar(4) = N'NULL';
set #String = replace(#String, N'{0}', cast(isnull(#Param0, #Null) as nvarchar(4000)));
set #String = replace(#String, N'{1}', cast(isnull(#Param1, #Null) as nvarchar(4000)));
return replace(#String, N'{2}', cast(isnull(#Param2, #Null) as nvarchar(4000)));
end
and so on...
Such an approach allows us to use these functions in SELECT statement and with parameters of nvarchar, number, bit and datetime datatypes.
For example:
declare #Param0 nvarchar(10) = N'IPSUM' ,
#Param1 int = 1234567 ,
#Param2 datetime2(0) = getdate();
select dbo.Format3(N'Lorem {0} dolor, {1} elit at {2}', #Param0, #Param1, #Param2);
Actually there is no built in function similar to string.Format function of .NET is available in SQL server.
There is a function FORMATMESSAGE() in SQL server but it mimics to printf() function of C not string.Format function of .NET.
SELECT FORMATMESSAGE('This is the %s and this is the %s.', 'first variable', 'second variable') AS Result
Here is my version. Can be extended to accommodate more number of parameters and can extend formatting based on type. Currently only date and datetime types are formatted.
Example:
select dbo.FormatString('some string %s some int %s date %s','"abcd"',100,cast(getdate() as date),DEFAULT,DEFAULT)
select dbo.FormatString('some string %s some int %s date time %s','"abcd"',100,getdate(),DEFAULT,DEFAULT)
Output:
some string "abcd" some int 100 date 29-Apr-2017
some string "abcd" some int 100 date time 29-Apr-2017 19:40
Functions:
create function dbo.FormatValue(#param sql_variant)
returns nvarchar(100)
begin
/*
Tejasvi Hegde, 29-April-2017
Can extend formatting here.
*/
declare #result nvarchar(100)
if (SQL_VARIANT_PROPERTY(#param,'BaseType') in ('date'))
begin
select #result = REPLACE(CONVERT(CHAR(11), #param, 106), ' ', '-')
end
else if (SQL_VARIANT_PROPERTY(#param,'BaseType') in ('datetime','datetime2'))
begin
select #result = REPLACE(CONVERT(CHAR(11), #param, 106), ' ', '-')+' '+CONVERT(VARCHAR(5),#param,108)
end
else
begin
select #result = cast(#param as nvarchar(100))
end
return #result
/*
BaseType:
bigint
binary
char
date
datetime
datetime2
datetimeoffset
decimal
float
int
money
nchar
numeric
nvarchar
real
smalldatetime
smallint
smallmoney
time
tinyint
uniqueidentifier
varbinary
varchar
*/
end;
create function dbo.FormatString(
#format nvarchar(4000)
,#param1 sql_variant = null
,#param2 sql_variant = null
,#param3 sql_variant = null
,#param4 sql_variant = null
,#param5 sql_variant = null
)
returns nvarchar(4000)
begin
/*
Tejasvi Hegde, 29-April-2017
select dbo.FormatString('some string value %s some int %s date %s','"abcd"',100,cast(getdate() as date),DEFAULT,DEFAULT)
select dbo.FormatString('some string value %s some int %s date time %s','"abcd"',100,getdate(),DEFAULT,DEFAULT)
*/
declare #result nvarchar(4000)
select #param1 = dbo.formatValue(#param1)
,#param2 = dbo.formatValue(#param2)
,#param3 = dbo.formatValue(#param3)
,#param4 = dbo.formatValue(#param4)
,#param5 = dbo.formatValue(#param5)
select #param2 = cast(#param2 as nvarchar)
EXEC xp_sprintf #result OUTPUT,#format , #param1, #param2, #param3, #param4, #param5
return #result
end;
here's what I found with my experiments using the built-in
FORMATMESSAGE() function
sp_addmessage #msgnum=50001,#severity=1,#msgText='Hello %s you are #%d',#replace='replace'
SELECT FORMATMESSAGE(50001, 'Table1', 5)
when you call up sp_addmessage, your message template gets stored into the system table master.dbo.sysmessages (verified on SQLServer 2000).
You must manage addition and removal of template strings from the table yourself, which is awkward if all you really want is output a quick message to the results screen.
The solution provided by Kathik DV, looks interesting but doesn't work with SQL Server 2000, so i altered it a bit, and this version should work with all versions of SQL Server:
IF OBJECT_ID( N'[dbo].[FormatString]', 'FN' ) IS NOT NULL
DROP FUNCTION [dbo].[FormatString]
GO
/***************************************************
Object Name : FormatString
Purpose : Returns the formatted string.
Original Author : Karthik D V http://stringformat-in-sql.blogspot.com/
Sample Call:
SELECT dbo.FormatString ( N'Format {0} {1} {2} {0}', N'1,2,3' )
*******************************************/
CREATE FUNCTION [dbo].[FormatString](
#Format NVARCHAR(4000) ,
#Parameters NVARCHAR(4000)
)
RETURNS NVARCHAR(4000)
AS
BEGIN
--DECLARE #Format NVARCHAR(4000), #Parameters NVARCHAR(4000) select #format='{0}{1}', #Parameters='hello,world'
DECLARE #Message NVARCHAR(400), #Delimiter CHAR(1)
DECLARE #ParamTable TABLE ( ID INT IDENTITY(0,1), Parameter VARCHAR(1000) )
Declare #startPos int, #endPos int
SELECT #Message = #Format, #Delimiter = ','
--handle first parameter
set #endPos=CHARINDEX(#Delimiter,#Parameters)
if (#endPos=0 and #Parameters is not null) --there is only one parameter
insert into #ParamTable (Parameter) values(#Parameters)
else begin
insert into #ParamTable (Parameter) select substring(#Parameters,0,#endPos)
end
while #endPos>0
Begin
--insert a row for each parameter in the
set #startPos = #endPos + LEN(#Delimiter)
set #endPos = CHARINDEX(#Delimiter,#Parameters, #startPos)
if (#endPos>0)
insert into #ParamTable (Parameter) select substring(#Parameters,#startPos,#endPos)
else
insert into #ParamTable (Parameter) select substring(#Parameters,#startPos,4000)
End
UPDATE #ParamTable SET #Message = REPLACE ( #Message, '{'+CONVERT(VARCHAR,ID) + '}', Parameter )
RETURN #Message
END
Go
grant execute,references on dbo.formatString to public
Usage:
print dbo.formatString('hello {0}... you are {1}','world,good')
--result: hello world... you are good
At the moment this doesn't really exist (although you can of course write your own). There is an open connect bug for it: https://connect.microsoft.com/SQLServer/Feedback/Details/3130221, which as of this writing has just 1 vote.
Not exactly, but I would check out some of the articles on string handling (amongst other things) by "Phil Factor" (geddit?) on Simple Talk.
this is bad approach. you should work with assembly dll's, in which will do the same for you with better performance.