Function Reference > Functions > 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