Tag: structured query language for dummies

Oracle TO_CHAR to SQL Server CONVERT Equivalents to change Date to String

  • Transact SQL (T-SQL)
    Transact SQL (T-SQL)

When it comes to SQL I tend to lean on the SQL I have used the most over the years, which is Oracle.  Today was no exception, I found myself trying to use the TO_CHAR command in SQL Server to format a date, which of course does not work. So, after a little thought, here are some examples of how you can the SQL Server Convert Command the achieve the equivalent result.

  • Example SQL Server Date Conversion SQL
    Example SQL Server Date Conversion SQL

Example SQL Server Date Conversion SQL Code

This SQL of examples runs, as is, no from table required.

Select
CONVERT(VARCHAR(10), GETDATE(), 20) as
‘YYYY-MM-DD’
,CONVERT(VARCHAR(19), GETDATE(), 20) as ‘YYYY-MM-DD HH24:MI:SS’
,CONVERT(VARCHAR(8), GETDATE(), 112) as YYYYMMDD
,CONVERT(VARCHAR(6), GETDATE(), 112) as YYYYMM
,CONVERT(VARCHAR(12), DATEPART(YEAR, GETDATE()))+ RIGHT(‘0’+CAST(MONTH(GETDATE()) AS VARCHAR(2)),2)
as
YYYYMM_Method_2
,CONVERT(VARCHAR(4), GETDATE(), 12) as YYMM
,CONVERT(VARCHAR(4), GETDATE(), 112) as YYYY
,CONVERT(VARCHAR(4), DATEPART(YEAR, GETDATE())) as YYYY_Method_2
,CONVERT(VARCHAR(4), YEAR(GETDATE())) as YYYY_Method_3
,RIGHT(‘0’+CAST(MONTH(GETDATE()) AS VARCHAR(2)),2) as Two_Digit_Month
,SUBSTRING(ltrim(CONVERT(VARCHAR(4), GETDATE(), 12)),3,2) as Two_Digit_Month_2
,CONVERT(VARCHAR(10), GETDATE(), 111) as ‘YYYY/MM/DD’
,CONVERT(VARCHAR(5), GETDATE(), 8) as ‘HH24:MI’

Map TO_CHAR formats to SQL Server

You can map an Oracle TO_CHAR formats to SQL Server alternative commands as follows:

TO_CHAR
String

VARCHAR
Length

SQL
Server Convert Style

YYYY-MM-DD

VARCHAR(10)

20,
21, 120, 121, 126 and 127

YYYY-MM-DD
HH24:MI:SS

VARCHAR(19)

20,
21, 120 and 121

YYYYMMDD

VARCHAR(8)

112

YYYYMM

VARCHAR(6)

112

YYMM

VARCHAR(4)

12

YYYY

VARCHAR(4)

112

MM

VARCHAR(2)

12

YYYY/MM/DD

VARCHAR(10)

111

HH24:MI

VARCHAR(5)

8,
108, 14 and 114

HH24:MI:SS

VARCHAR(8)

8,
108, 14 and 114

Translating the formats commands

Here are some example of translating the formats commands.

Format

SQL
Server

YYYY-MM-DD

CONVERT(VARCHAR(10),
GETDATE(), 20)

YYYY-MM-DD
HH24:MI:SS

CONVERT(VARCHAR(19),
GETDATE(), 20)

YYYYMMDD

CONVERT(VARCHAR(8),
GETDATE(), 112)

YYYYMM

CONVERT(VARCHAR(6),
GETDATE(), 112)

YYMM

CONVERT(VARCHAR(4),
GETDATE(), 12)

YYYY

CONVERT(VARCHAR(4),
GETDATE(), 112)

YYYY

CONVERT(VARCHAR(4),
DATEPART(YEAR, GETDATE()))

YYYY

CONVERT(VARCHAR(4),
YEAR(GETDATE()))

MM

RIGHT(‘0’+CAST(MONTH(GETDATE())
AS VARCHAR(2)),2)

MM

SUBSTRING(ltrim(CONVERT(VARCHAR(4),
GETDATE(), 12)),3,2)

YYYY/MM/DD

CONVERT(VARCHAR(10),
GETDATE(), 111)

HH24:MI

CONVERT(VARCHAR(5),
GETDATE(), 8)

HH24:MI:SS

CONVERT(VARCHAR(8),
GETDATE(), 8)

Related Reference

Microsoft Docs, SQL, T-SQL Functions, GETDATE (Transact-SQL)

Microsoft Docs, SQL, T-SQL Functions, Date and Time Data Types and Functions (Transact-SQL)

Microsoft Docs, SQL, T-SQL Functions, DATEPART (Transact-SQL)

SQL server table Describe (DESC) equivalent

Transact SQL (T-SQL)
Transact SQL (T-SQL)

Microsoft SQL Server doesn’t seem have a describe command and usually, folks seem to want to build a stored procedure to get the describe behaviors.  However, this is not always practical based on your permissions. So, the simple SQL below will provide describe like information in a pinch.  You may want to dress it up a bit; but I usually just use it raw, as shown below by adding the table name.

Describe T-SQL Equivalent

Select *

 

From INFORMATION_SCHEMA.COLUMNS

Where TABLE_NAME = ‘<<TABLENAME>>’;

Related References

Netezza / PureData – How To Get A List Of When A Store Procedure Was Last Changed Or Created

Netezza / Puredata - SQL (Structured Query Language)
Netezza / Puredata – SQL (Structured Query Language)

In the continuing journey to track down impacted objects and to determine when the code in a database was last changed or added, here is another quick SQL, which can be used in Aginity Workbench for Netezza to retrieve a list of when Store Procedures were last updated or were created.

SQL List of When A Stored Procedure was Last Changed or Created

select t.database — Database
, t.OWNER — Object Owner
, t.PROCEDURE — Procedure Name
, o.objmodified — The Last Modified Datetime
, o.objcreated — Created Datetime

from _V_OBJECT o
, _v_procedure t
where
o.objid = t.objid
and t.DATABASE = ‘<<Database Name>>‘
order by o.objmodified Desc, o.objcreated Desc;

 

Related References

 

Netezza / PureData – How To Get a SQL List of When View Was Last Changed or Created

Netezza / PureData SQL (Structured Query Language)
Netezza / PureData SQL (Structured Query Language)

Sometimes it is handy to be able to get a quick list of when a view was changed last.  It could be for any number of reason, but sometimes folks just lose track of when a view was last updated or even need to verify that it hadn’t been changed recently.  So here is a quick SQL, which can be dropped in Aginity Workbench for Netezza to create a list of when a view was created or was update dated last.  Update the Database name in the SQL and run it.

SQL List of When A view was Last Changed or Created

select t.database — Database
, t.OWNER — Object Owner
, t.VIEWNAME — View Name
, o.objmodified — The Last Modified Datetime
, o.objcreated — Created Datetime

from _V_OBJECT o
,_V_VIEW_XDB t
where
o.objid = t.objid
and DATABASE = ‘<<Database Name>>‘
order by o.objcreated Desc, o.objmodified Desc;

Related References

 

Netezza / PureData – Table Describe SQL

Netezza Puredata Table Describe SQL
Netezza / Puredata Table Describe SQL

If you want to describe a PureData / Netezza table in SQL, it can be done, but Netezza doesn’t have a describe command.  Here is a quick SQL, which will give the basic structure of a table or a view.  Honestly, if you have Aginity Generating the DDL is fast and more informative, at least to me.  If you have permissions to access NZSQL you can also use the slash commands (e.g. \d).

Example Netezza Table Describe SQL

select  name as Table_name,

owner as Table_Owner,

Createdate as Table_Created_Date,

type as Table_Type,

Database as Database_Name,

schema as Database_Schema,

attnum as Field_Order,

attname as Field_Name,

format_type as Field_Type,

attnotnull as Field_Not_Null_Indicator,

attlen as Field_Length

from _v_relation_column

where

name='<<Table Name Here>>’

Order by attnum;

 

Related References

IBM Knowledge Center, PureData System for Analytics, Version 7.2.1

IBM Netezza database user documentation, Command-line options for nzsql, Internal slash options

IBM Knowledge Center, PureData System for Analytics, Version 7.2.1

IBM Netezza getting started tips, About the Netezza data warehouse appliance, Commands and queries, Basic Netezza SQL information, Commonly used nzsql internal slash commands

IBM Knowledge Center, PureData System for Analytics, Version 7.2.1

IBM Netezza database user documentation, Netezza SQL introduction, The nzsql command options, Slash options

 

 

Aginity For Netezza – How to Generate DDL

Aginity, Aginity for Netezza, Netezza, PureData, DDL, SQL
Aginity

How to Generate Netezza Object DDL

In ‘Aginity for Netezza’ this process is easy, if you have a user with sufficient permissions.

The basic process is:

  • In the object browser, navigate to the Database
  • select the Object (e.g. table, view, stored procedure)
  • Right Click, Select ‘Script’ > ‘DDL to query window’
  • The Object DDL will appear in the query window

Create DDL to Query Window
Create DDL to Query Window

Related References

 

Netezza / PureData – Substring Function Example

SQL (Structured Query Language), Netezza PureData – Substring Function Example, Substr
Netezza / PureData – Substring Function Example

The function Substring (SUBSTR) in Netezza PureData provides the capability parse character type fields based on position within a character string.

Substring Functions Basic Syntax

SUBSTRING Function Syntax

SUBSTRING(<<CharacterField>>,<< StartingPosition integer>>, <<for Number of characters Integer–optional>>)

 

SUBSTR Function Syntax

SUBSTR((<>,<< StartingPosition integer>>, <>)

 

Example Substring SQL

Netezza / PureData Substring Example
Netezza / PureData Substring Example

Substring SQL Used In Example

SELECT  LOCATIONTEXT

— From the Left Of the String

—

— Using SUBSTRING Function

,’==SUBSTRING From the Left==’ as Divider1

,SUBSTRING(LOCATIONTEXT,1,5) as Beggining_Using_SUBSTRING_LFT

,SUBSTRING(LOCATIONTEXT,7,6) as Middle_Using_SUBSTRING_LFT

,SUBSTRING(LOCATIONTEXT,15) as End_Using_SUBSTRING_LFT

,’==SUBSTR From the Left==’ as Divider2

—Using SUBSTR Function

 

,SUBSTR(LOCATIONTEXT,1,5) as Beggining_Using_SUBSTR_LFT

,SUBSTR(LOCATIONTEXT,7,6) as Middle_Using_SUBSTR_LFT

,SUBSTR(LOCATIONTEXT,15) as End_Using_SUBSTR_LFT

—

— From the right of the String

—

,’==SUBSTRING From the Right==’ as Divider3

,SUBSTRING(LOCATIONTEXT,LENGTH(LOCATIONTEXT)-18, 8) as Beggining_Using_SUBSTRING_RGT

,SUBSTRING(LOCATIONTEXT,LENGTH(LOCATIONTEXT)-9, 6) as Middle_Using_SUBSTRING_RGT

,SUBSTRING(LOCATIONTEXT,LENGTH(LOCATIONTEXT)-1) as End_Using_SUBSTRING_RGT

,’==SUBSTR From the right==’ as Divider4

,SUBSTR(LOCATIONTEXT,LENGTH(LOCATIONTEXT)-18, 8) as Beggining_Using_SUBSTR_RGT

,SUBSTR(LOCATIONTEXT,LENGTH(LOCATIONTEXT)-9, 6) as Middle_Using_SUBSTR_RGT

,SUBSTR(LOCATIONTEXT,LENGTH(LOCATIONTEXT)-1) as End_Using_SUBSTR_RGT

FROM BLOG.D_ZIPCODE

where STATE = ‘PR’

AND CITY = ‘REPTO ROBLES’;

Related References

IBM Knowledge Center, PureData System for Analytics, Version 7.2.1

IBM Netezza database user documentation, Netezza SQL basics, Netezza SQL extensions, Character string functions

IBM Knowledge Center, PureData System for Analytics, Version 7.1.0

IBM Netezza Database User’s Guide, Netezza SQL basics, Functions and operators, Functions, Standard string functions

IBM Knowledge Center, PureData System for Analytics, Version 7.2.1

IBM Netezza database user documentation, Netezza SQL command reference, Functions