How to Replace Part of a String in SQL

You can use the REPLACE function to replace part of a string in a single record or multiple records. This SQL function takes three arguments: the string you want to replace, the string you want to replace it with, and the string you want to search in. For example, if you wanted to replace the word "cat" with the word "dog" in the string "I like cats", you would use the following query:

SELECT REPLACE('I like cats', 'cat', 'dog');

This query would return the result I like dogs.

Examples

Let's look at a few examples of how this function can be used. Suppose you have a table called users with the following data:

users
nameage
John25
Jane30
John25
Bob20


If you wanted to replace the word "John" with the word "Bob" in the name column, you would use the following query:

SELECT REPLACE(name, 'John', 'Bob') FROM users;

This query would return the result Bob, Jane, Bob, Bob.

Additional Info

The REPLACE function is supported by most major databases, including MySQL, PostgreSQL, and SQL Server. However, the syntax may vary slightly depending on the database you are using. For more information, check out the documentation for your particular database. 🤓

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