Search and replace in database fields

The Problem

There is information in the database that needs replacing, but this information is a substring of 1 or more rows of a field in the table, we need an equivalent to a SQL search and replace.

Code

How to use

Replace the items in the code enclosed in square brackets [], with the following values :-

• [tablename] - The name of the table in the database.
• [fieldname] - The name of the field (column) within the table.
• [find] - The text to be replaced (text to be searched for).
• [replace] - The text which will replace the text found.

Suggestions

You may wish to use a programming language which supports Dynamic SQL to make a generic function. This could take the items in square brackets as parameters to produce a very powerful database search and replace tool.

Details

Author:     Wayne Jones
Created:    1 December 2002
Works with: MS-SQL, Sybase