mysqlsql-server-2012porting

SQL Server equivalent of substring_index function in MySQL


I am trying to port a query from MySQL to SQL SERVER 2012.

How do i write an equivalent for MySQL's substring_index()?

MySQL SUBSTRING_INDEX() returns the substring from the given string before a specified number of occurrences of a delimiter.

SUBSTRING_INDEX(str, delim, count)

SELECT SUBSTRING_INDEX('www.somewebsite.com','.',2);

Output: 'www.somewebsite'


Solution

  • Try this solution based on T-SQL and XQuery((root/row)[position() <= sql:variable("@count")]):

    T-SQL Scalar function:

    CREATE FUNCTION dbo.SUBSTRING_INDEX
    (
        @str NVARCHAR(4000),
        @delim NVARCHAR(1),
        @count INT
    )
    RETURNS NVARCHAR(4000)
    WITH SCHEMABINDING
    BEGIN
        DECLARE @XmlSourceString XML;
        SET @XmlSourceString = (SELECT N'<root><row>' + REPLACE( (SELECT @str AS '*' FOR XML PATH('')) , @delim, N'</row><row>' ) + N'</row></root>');
    
        RETURN STUFF
        (
            ((
                SELECT  @delim + x.XmlCol.value(N'(text())[1]', N'NVARCHAR(4000)') AS '*'
                FROM    @XmlSourceString.nodes(N'(root/row)[position() <= sql:variable("@count")]') x(XmlCol)
                FOR XML PATH(N''), TYPE
            ).value(N'.', N'NVARCHAR(4000)')), 
            1, 1, N''
        );
    END
    GO
    
    SELECT dbo.SUBSTRING_INDEX(N'www.somewebsite.com', N'.', 2) AS Result;
    

    Output:

    /*
    Result
    ---------------
    www.somewebsite
    */
    

    or

    TSQL Inline Table-Valued Function:

    CREATE FUNCTION dbo.SUBSTRING_INDEX
    (
        @str NVARCHAR(4000),
        @delim NVARCHAR(1),
        @count INT
    )
    RETURNS TABLE
    AS 
    RETURN
        WITH Base
        AS 
        (
            SELECT XmlSourceString = CONVERT(XML, (SELECT N'<root><row>' + REPLACE( (SELECT @str AS '*' FOR XML PATH('')) , @delim, N'</row><row>' ) + N'</row></root>'))
        )   
        SELECT STUFF
        (
            ((
                SELECT  @delim + x.XmlCol.value(N'(text())[1]', N'NVARCHAR(4000)') AS '*'
                FROM    Base b 
                CROSS APPLY b.XmlSourceString.nodes(N'(root/row)[position() <= sql:variable("@count")]') x(XmlCol)
                FOR XML PATH(N''), TYPE
            ).value(N'.', N'NVARCHAR(4000)')), 
            1, 1, N''
        ) AS Result;
    GO
    
    SELECT  *
    FROM    (
        SELECT N'www.somewebsite.com' UNION ALL 
        SELECT N'www.yahoo.com' UNION ALL 
        SELECT N'www.outlook.com'
    ) a(Value)
    CROSS APPLY dbo.SUBSTRING_INDEX(a.Value, N'.', 2) b;
    

    Output:

    /*
    Value               Result
    ------------------- ---------------
    www.somewebsite.com www.somewebsite
    www.yahoo.com       www.yahoo
    www.outlook.com     www.outlook
    */