splitting column data

Question

How can I split a column data in sql. If hyphen is present, Only display the data before the hpyhen.

can you provide some examples of what the inputs are and what the outputs should be? — user156213, Aug 18 '15 at 22:01
I think the word you're looking for is "split." That said, this is why you should normalize your data. Anything that can be derived as the combination of 2 things should almost always be stored as the two things separately (because it's harder to pull them apart correctly than it is to put them back together). — jpmc26, Aug 18 '15 at 22:04

score 3 · Accepted Answer · answered Aug 18 '15 at 22:09

3

You need to be careful to test if a hyphen is present. This should work:

select left(colname, charindex('-', colname + '-') - 1)

If you don't do the "append an extra hyphen trick" then you need conditional logic (such as a case statement).

answered Aug 18 '15 at 22:09

Gordon Linoff

score 2 · Answer 2 · answered Aug 18 '15 at 22:03

2

select substring(colname, 1, charindex('-',colname)-1)
from tablename

You can use a combination of substring and charindex.

answered Aug 18 '15 at 22:03

Vamsi Prabhala

2 Answers2