replacesql-updateoracle9isubstr

Oracle - Update string to replace only the last character

I have the following string in an Oracle 9i database:

A,B,C,

I need to replace all instances of ',' when it is the last item in the string. I have come up with the following statement but it deletes everything in the field not just the comma. Any suggestions?

UPDATE table SET column = REPLACE(SUBSTR(column, -1, 1), ',', '');
Solution

  • You forgot to add the condition: WHERE SUBSTR(column, -1, 1) = ','
    Quassnoi caught another issue - REPLACE returns null - you can't use it inside the "set"

    Full sql:

    UPDATE table SET column = SUBSTR(column, 0, length(column)-1) 
WHERE SUBSTR(column, -1, 1) = ',';

    This will make sure you're doing the substitute only in rows that has values that ends with ","