Table of Contents

Search

  1. Preface
  2. Function reference
  3. Constants
  4. Operators
  5. Dates
  6. Functions
  7. System variables
  8. Datatype reference

Function Reference

Function Reference

REPLACECHR

REPLACECHR

Replaces characters in a string with a single character or no character. REPLACECHR searches the input string for the characters you specify and replaces all occurrences of all characters with the new character you specify.

Syntax

REPLACECHR(
CaseFlag
,
InputString
,
OldCharSet
,
NewChar
)
Argument
Required/
Optional
Description
CaseFlag
Required
Must be an integer. Determines whether the arguments in this function are case sensitive. You can enter any valid expression.
When
CaseFlag
is a number other than 0, the function is case sensitive.
When
CaseFlag
is a null value or 0, the function is not case sensitive.
InputString
Required
Must be a character string. Passes the string you want to search. You can enter any valid expression. If you pass a numeric value, the function converts it to a character string.
If
InputString
is NULL, REPLACECHR returns NULL.
OldCharSet
Required
Must be a character string. The characters you want to replace. You can enter one or more characters. You can enter any valid expression. You can also enter a text literal enclosed within single quotation marks, for example, 'abc'.
If you pass a numeric value, the function converts it to a character string.
If
OldCharSet
is NULL or empty, REPLACECHR returns
InputString
.
NewChar
Required
Must be a character string. You can enter one character, an empty string, or NULL. You can enter any valid expression.
If
NewChar
is NULL or empty, REPLACECHR removes all occurrences of all characters in
OldCharSet
in
InputString
.
If
NewChar
contains more than one character, REPLACECHR uses the first character to replace
OldCharSet.

Return Value

String.
Empty string if REPLACECHR removes all characters in
InputString
.
NULL if
InputString
is NULL.
InputString
if
OldCharSet
is NULL or empty.

Example

The following expression removes the double quotation marks from web log data for each row in the WEBLOG column:
REPLACECHR( 0, WEBLOG, '"', NULL )
WEBLOG
RETURN VALUE
"GET /news/index.html HTTP/1.1"
GET /news/index.html HTTP/1.1
"GET /companyinfo/index.html HTTP/1.1"
GET /companyinfo/index.html HTTP/1.1
GET /companyinfo/index.html HTTP/1.1
GET /companyinfo/index.html HTTP/1.1
NULL
NULL
The following expression removes multiple characters for each row in the WEBLOG column:
REPLACECHR ( 1, WEBLOG, ']["', NULL )
WEBLOG
RETURN VALUE
[29/Oct/2001:14:13:50 -0700]
29/Oct/2001:14:13:50 -0700
[31/Oct/2000:19:45:46 -0700] "GET /news/index.html HTTP/1.1"
31/Oct/2000:19:45:46 -0700 GET /news/index.html HTTP/1.1
[01/Nov/2000:10:51:31 -0700] "GET /news/index.html HTTP/1.1"
01/Nov/2000:10:51:31 -0700 GET /news/index.html HTTP/1.1
NULL
NULL
The following expression changes part of the value of the customer code for each row in the CUSTOMER_CODE column:
REPLACECHR ( 1, CUSTOMER_CODE, 'A', 'M' )
CUSTOMER_CODE
RETURN VALUE
ABA
MBM
abA
abM
BBC
BBC
ACC
MCC
NULL
NULL
The following expression changes part of the value of the customer code for each row in the CUSTOMER_CODE column:
REPLACECHR ( 0, CUSTOMER_CODE, 'A', 'M' )
CUSTOMER_CODE
RETURN VALUE
ABA
MBM
abA
MbM
BBC
BBC
ACC
MCC
The following expression changes part of the value of the customer code for each row in the CUSTOMER_CODE column:
REPLACECHR ( 1, CUSTOMER_CODE, 'A', NULL )
CUSTOMER_CODE
RETURN VALUE
ABA
B
BBC
BBC
ACC
CC
AAA
    
[empty string]
aaa
aaa
NULL
NULL
The following expression removes multiple numbers for each row in the INPUT column:
REPLACECHR ( 1, INPUT, '14', NULL )
INPUT
RETURN VALUE
12345
235
4141
NULL
111115
5
NULL
NULL
When you want to use a single quotation mark (') in either
OldCharSet
or
NewChar
, you must use the CHR function. The single quotation mark is the only character that cannot be used inside a string literal.
The following expression removes multiple characters, including the single quotation mark, for each row in the INPUT column:
REPLACECHR (1, INPUT, CHR(39), NULL )
INPUT
RETURN VALUE
'Tom Smith' 'Laura Jones'
Tom Smith Laura Jones
Tom's
Toms
NULL
NULL

0 COMMENTS

We’d like to hear from you!