How to Split A String In Oracle Using Substr/Instr?

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To split a string in Oracle using the SUBSTR and INSTR functions, you can first identify the position of the delimiter in the string using the INSTR function. Once you have the position of the delimiter, you can use the SUBSTR function to extract the desired substring from the original string.


For example, if you have a string 'Hello,World' and you want to split it at the comma ',', you can use the following query:

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SELECT SUBSTR('Hello,World', 1, INSTR('Hello,World', ',') - 1) AS first_part,
       SUBSTR('Hello,World', INSTR('Hello,World', ',') + 1) AS second_part
FROM dual;


This query will extract 'Hello' as the first part and 'World' as the second part from the original string 'Hello,World'. You can adjust the delimiter and string as needed to split strings in Oracle using the SUBSTR and INSTR functions.

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What is the use of substr and instr functions in Oracle?

The SUBSTR function in Oracle is used to extract a substring from a string. It takes three arguments - the input string, the starting position from where to extract the substring, and the length of the substring to be extracted.


For example, SUBSTR('Hello World', 7, 5) will return 'World' as it starts from the 7th position in the string and extracts 5 characters.


The INSTR function in Oracle is used to find the position of a substring within a string. It takes two arguments - the input string and the substring to search for within the input string.


For example, INSTR('Hello World', 'World') will return 7 as it finds the position of the substring 'World' in the input string 'Hello World'.


What is splitting a string in Oracle?

Splitting a string in Oracle refers to dividing a string into substrings based on a delimiter or a specific pattern. This can be done using various functions or techniques in Oracle, such as using the SUBSTR and INSTR functions, regular expressions, or custom PL/SQL code. The resulting substrings can then be used for further processing or manipulation in queries or stored procedures.


How to split a string into a fixed number of substrings in Oracle?

In Oracle, you can use the SUBSTR function along with INSTR function to split a string into a fixed number of substrings. Here's an example of the query:

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SELECT SUBSTR('The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog', 1, INSTR('The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog', ' ', 1, 1)-1) AS substring1,
       SUBSTR('The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog', INSTR('The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog', ' ', 1, 1)+1, INSTR('The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog', ' ', 1, 2)-INSTR('The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog', ' ', 1, 1)-1) AS substring2,
       SUBSTR('The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog', INSTR('The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog', ' ', 1, 2)+1) AS substring3
FROM dual;


In this query, we are splitting the string 'The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog' into three substrings based on the spaces in the string. You can adjust the INSTR functions and SUBSTR parameters to split the string into the desired number of substrings.


What is the performance impact of splitting a large string in Oracle?

Splitting a large string in Oracle can have a performance impact, especially if it involves using functions like SUBSTR, INSTR, or REGEXP_SUBSTR. These functions can be computationally intensive and may slow down query execution, especially on large datasets.


Additionally, splitting a large string can result in increased memory usage, as each substring created during the splitting process will occupy additional memory space. This can potentially lead to increased disk I/O and CPU usage, impacting overall system performance.


It is important to consider the size of the string being split, the complexity of the splitting logic, and the volume of data being processed when determining the potential performance impact. In some cases, alternative methods such as using a custom PL/SQL function or a regular expression may provide better performance compared to built-in SQL functions.


What is the use of reverse function in splitting a string in Oracle?

The REVERSE function in Oracle is used to reverse the order of characters in a given string. It can be helpful in splitting a string by reversing the characters and then using a delimiter to split the reversed string, and finally reversing each part back to its original order.


For example, if you have a string 'Hello World' and you want to split it by space ' ':

  1. Reverse the string: 'dlroW olleH'
  2. Split the reversed string by space: 'dlroW' and 'olleH'
  3. Reverse each part back to its original order: 'World' and 'Hello'


This approach can be useful in cases where splitting a string based on certain delimiters is not straightforward using built-in functions in Oracle.

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