Split Address column into separate columns in SQL view
Solution 1
this will split the address by using the parsename function and combining that with COALESCE to grab the correct info in the correct column
if you have more than 4 lines this method will NOT work
edit: added the code to reverse the order
create table #test (address varchar(1000))
--test data
insert #test values('My Company
123 Main St.
Somewhere,NY 12345')
insert #test values('My Company2
666 Main St.
Bla Bla
Somewhere,NY 12345')
insert #test values('My Company2')
--split happens here
select
replace(parsename(address,ParseLen +1),'^','') as Address1,
replace(parsename(address,ParseLen ),'^','') as Address2,
replace(parsename(address,ParseLen -1),'^','') as Address3,
replace(parsename(address,ParseLen -2),'^','') as Address4
from(
select case ascii(right(address,1)) when 10 then
replace(replace(left(address,(len(address)-1)),'.','^'),char(10),'.')
else
replace(replace(address,'.','^'),char(10),'.') end as address,
case ascii(right(address,1)) when 10 then
len(replace(replace(address,'.','^'),char(10),'.')) -
len(replace(replace(address,'.','^'),char(10),'')) -1
else
len(replace(replace(address,'.','^'),char(10),'.')) -
len(replace(replace(address,'.','^'),char(10),'')) end as ParseLen
from #test) x
Solution 2
This is awfully nasty... I strongly recommend that if you want to treat each address line separately, that you store it correctly in the first place. Instead of continuing to do what you're doing, add the additional columns, fix the existing data once (instead of "fixing" it every time you run a query), and then adjust the stored procedure that does the insert / update so that it knows to use the other columns.
DECLARE @Address TABLE(id INT IDENTITY(1,1), ad VARCHAR(MAX));
INSERT @Address(ad) SELECT 'line 1
line 2
line 3
line 4'
UNION ALL SELECT 'row 1
row 2
row 3'
UNION ALL SELECT 'address 1
address 2'
UNION ALL SELECT 'only 1 entry here'
UNION ALL SELECT 'let us try 5 lines
line 2
line 3
line 4
line 5';
SELECT
id,
Line1 = REPLACE(REPLACE(COALESCE(Line1, ''), CHAR(10), ''), CHAR(13), ''),
Line2 = REPLACE(REPLACE(COALESCE(Line2, ''), CHAR(10), ''), CHAR(13), ''),
Line3 = REPLACE(REPLACE(COALESCE(SUBSTRING(Rest, 1, COALESCE(NULLIF(CHARINDEX(CHAR(10), Rest), 0), LEN(Rest))), ''), CHAR(10), ''), CHAR(13), ''),
Line4 = REPLACE(REPLACE(COALESCE(SUBSTRING(Rest, NULLIF(CHARINDEX(CHAR(10), Rest) + 1, 1), LEN(Rest)), ''), CHAR(10), ''), CHAR(13), '')
FROM
(
SELECT
id,
ad,
Line1,
Line2 = SUBSTRING(Rest, 1, COALESCE(NULLIF(CHARINDEX(CHAR(10), Rest), 0), LEN(Rest))),
Rest = SUBSTRING(Rest, NULLIF(CHARINDEX(CHAR(10), Rest) + 1, 1), LEN(Rest))
FROM
(
SELECT
id,
ad,
Line1 = SUBSTRING(ad, 1, COALESCE(NULLIF(CHARINDEX(CHAR(10), ad), 0), LEN(ad))),
Rest = SUBSTRING(ad, NULLIF(CHARINDEX(CHAR(10), ad) + 1, 1), LEN(ad))
FROM
@address
) AS x
) AS y
ORDER BY id;
Denis' PARSENAME() trick is much tidier of course, but you have to be extremely careful about using a replacement character that is truly impossible to appear in the data naturally. The carat (^) is probably a good bet, but like I said, you need to be careful.
There are also software packages out there that are really good at scrubbing address and other demographic data. But cleaning up the data entry is the most important thing here that I'll continue to stress... if each address line needs to be treated separately, then store them that way.
Jamie
Updated on June 19, 2022Comments
-
Jamie almost 2 years
I have an Address column in a table that I need to split into multiple columns in a view in SQL Server 2005. I need to split the column on the line feed character, chr(10), and there could be from 1 to 4 lines (0 to 3 line feeds) in the column. Below are a couple of examples of what I need to do. What is the simplest way to make this happen?
Examples: Address Address1 Address2 Address3 Address4 ------------ = ----------- ----------- ----------------- --------- My Company My Company 123 Main St. Somewhere,NY 12345 123 Main St. Somewhere,NY 12345 Address Address1 Address2 Address3 Address4 ------------ = ------------ ---------- ----------- --------- 123 Main St. 123 Main St.