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 update value to remove all characters more than 11

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jcoleman_11
Starting Member

11 Posts

Posted - 2010-05-25 : 16:44:59
Hey guys,

i need help and am on a deadline. I need to update this table. Basically, one of the values is a code. i need to trim the codes down to only the first 11 characters, but only the codes beginning with 3. so...
basically 123456789123456 needs to be 12345678912, but i've got hundreds of these and don't want to update them one by one.

update tblscancode [need help here] where scancode like '3%'

what goes in the [need help here] spot.

Thanks guys!

robvolk
Most Valuable Yak

15732 Posts

Posted - 2010-05-25 : 16:46:35
update tblscancode set scancode=left(scancode,11) where scancode like '3%'
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jcoleman_11
Starting Member

11 Posts

Posted - 2010-05-25 : 16:59:02
thanks robvolk, that worked wonders!! now my only concern is that i will have duplicates. Whats the easiest way to make sure i only have unique values?
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jcoleman_11
Starting Member

11 Posts

Posted - 2010-05-25 : 17:02:33
i quickly looked through it, and there don't appear to be any duplicates. Is it possible that dbisqlc knows there are dupes and truncates the extra values?
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robvolk
Most Valuable Yak

15732 Posts

Posted - 2010-05-25 : 17:51:51
You'll have to handle duplicates manually, but you can look for them with the following query:

select count(distinct scancode), count(distinct left(scancode,11)) from tblscancode where scancode like '3%'

If both counts are the same then you can safely trim off the characters. If they differ you'll have to investigate.
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jcoleman_11
Starting Member

11 Posts

Posted - 2010-05-25 : 19:04:25
awesome, you've been a great help!
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