How can I remove all special characters from a column in SQL

Question

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This is my sample data in a column

this is ! Alex23 & and % doing/ *SQL2019

i want this output from above 

this is Alex23 and doing SQL2019

we are not allowed to use stored procedure and function in organization. we have to type so many update and replace queries, so looking for a better solution which doesn't include so many replace queries.

What I have tried:

update tablename set columnname = replace(columnname,'!','')
update tablename set columnname = replace(columnname,'@','')
update tablename set columnname = replace(columnname,'#','')
update tablename set columnname = replace(columnname,'$','')
update tablename set columnname = replace(columnname,'%','')
update tablename set columnname = replace(columnname,'&','')

Posted 4-May-24 21:45pm

Member 9553610

Updated 11-May-24 20:44pm

v2

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Wendelius 5-May-24 6:19am

updating the row should work fine so what is the issue with that?

Member 9553610 12-May-24 2:39am

update table works fine, but there are 30+ special characters and some non printable characters as well in the data. we have to type this much update queries. so that's why i am looking for a better and optimized query for this

Richard Deeming 13-May-24 3:50am

Well, if you're "not allowed to use stored procedure and function in organization" (why not?), then you're not going to find a better or more optimized query.

SQL Server doesn't natively support regular expressions, and the only way to add support is using SQLCLR functions. If you're banned from using stored procedures and functions, then you're unlikely to be allowed to use SQLCLR functions.

NB: By "functions", I'm assuming you mean "user-defined functions". Because technically, Replace[^] is a function.

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Wendelius · Answer 1 · 2024-05-05T00:27:00

Solution 1

If update isn't an option, you can always use nested calls to the replace function when selecting, for example

SQL

select replace(
         replace(
           replace('this% contains ! illegal/ chars',
           '!',''), 
         '%',''), 
       '/','')

Posted 5-May-24 0:27am

Wendelius

Updated 5-May-24 0:28am

v2

Comments

Member 9553610 12-May-24 2:41am

there are 30+ special characters and some non printable characters as well in the data. we have to type this much update queries. it looks a bit hectic to type this much replace functions.

Wendelius 13-May-24 13:22pm

If you don't want to use separate replace-calls, have a look at https://www.codeproject.com/Tips/5382272/Small-function-to-replace-characters-with-SQL-Serv