SQL Server printf

Question

Is there a printf-like function in Sql Server? I want the same features as the RAISERROR function, but instead of throwing an error, or printing a message, I want to wri

Answer 1

Here's a simple printf procedure using sql_variant data types. Unfortunately, it only works for SQL Server 2008 and above.

CREATE PROCEDURE dbo.printf
  @string nvarchar(max),
  @p1 sql_variant = null,
  @p2 sql_variant = null,
  @p3 sql_variant = null
AS
BEGIN
  declare @str nvarchar(200), @pos int, @type char(1)
  select @str = @string, @pos = 0

  --- @p1
  set @pos = CHARINDEX('%', @str, @pos)
  if @pos > 0 and substring(@str, @pos, 2) = '%%'
    set @str = stuff(@str, @pos, 2, coalesce(cast(@p1 as nvarchar(100)),'')) 

  --- @p2
  set @pos = CHARINDEX('%', @str, @pos)
  if @pos > 0 and substring(@str, @pos, 2) = '%%'
    set @str = stuff(@str, @pos, 2, coalesce(cast(@p2 as nvarchar(100)),'')) 

  --- @p3
  set @pos = CHARINDEX('%', @str, @pos)
  if @pos > 0 and substring(@str, @pos, 2) = '%%'
    set @str = stuff(@str, @pos, 2, coalesce(cast(@p3 as nvarchar(100)),'')) 

  print @str
END

And here are sample invocations:

exec dbo.printf 'Hello %%', 'World'
exec dbo.printf 'Hello %%. Today is %% of the month', 'World', 28
declare @dd datetime; set @dd = getDate()
exec dbo.printf 'Hello %%. Today''s date is %%', 'World', @dd