Get string between 2 characters that repeats several times in sql server

Question

I need to extract multiple strings between 2 specific characters that repeats several times in a row. for example; these are 2 rows from my table:

id myString
         


        

Answer 1

Answer works in sqlserver 2016

DECLARE @t table(id int, myString varchar(40))
INSERT @t 
VALUES (1,'aaa(bb)ccc(ffffd)'),(2, 'eeee(ff)gggg(hhh)iii')

SELECT id, stuff(value, 1, charindex('(',value),'') myString
FROM 
  @t t
CROSS APPLY
  STRING_SPLIT(mystring,')') 
WHERE value like '%(%'
ORDER BY id

Fiddle

Answer 2

If the string always follows the repeating pattern of '..(..)' one method to solve this uses a CSV Splitter function by Jeff Moden, replacing the second delimiter with the first delimiter, and getting only the second sets using modulo (%):

select 
    Id
 , myString = x.item
from t
  cross apply (
    select Item = ltrim(rtrim(i.Item))
      from [dbo].[delimitedsplit8K](replace(t.mystring,')','('),'(') as i
      where ItemNumber%2=0
      ) x

test setup: http://rextester.com/DAI48471

Added example input of 3,'jjj(kkk)ll(mmm)n(ooooo)pp(qq)rr'

returns:

+----+----------+
| Id | myString |
+----+----------+
|  1 | bb       |
|  1 | ffffd      |
|  2 | ff       |
|  2 | hhh      |
|  3 | kkk      |
|  3 | mmm      |
|  3 | ooooo    |
|  3 | qq       |
+----+----------+

splitting strings reference:

• Tally OH! An Improved SQL 8K “CSV Splitter” Function - Jeff Moden
• Splitting Strings : A Follow-Up - Aaron Bertrand
• Split strings the right way – or the next best way - Aaron Bertrand
• string_split() in SQL Server 2016 : Follow-Up #1 - Aaron Bertrand

Answer 3

One method uses recursive CTEs:

with cte as (
      select id,
             left(stuff(myString, 1, charindex('(', myString), ''),
                  charindex(')', myString) - charindex('(', myString) - 1
                 ) as val,
             stuff(myString, 1, charindex(')', myString) + 1) as rest
      from t
      where myString like '%(%)%'
      union all
      select id,
             left(stuff(rest, 1, charindex('(', rest), ''),
                  charindex(')', rest) - charindex('(', rest) - 1
                 ) as val,
             stuff(rest, 1, charindex(')', myString) + 1) as rest
      from cte
      where rest like '%(%)%'
     )
select id, val
from cte;

Answer 4

I know I'm coming very late to the party, but I ran into the exact same problem, and found a very easy way to complete it with a recursive CTE.

I hope this is helpful to anyone running into the same issue.

IF OBJECT_ID('tempdb..#Temp') IS NOT NULL DROP TABLE #Temp
CREATE TABLE #Temp (
    [ID]    INT,
    [Text]  VARCHAR(255)
)

INSERT INTO #Temp ([ID], [Text])
VALUES (1, '(test1) sdkjsdlfnicsn */12e3mdsf ksd (test 2) $#@ewmfdsdk (test3)'), (2, '(test4) sdvdsg */sdg ksd (test 5) $#@ewmfdsdk (test6)(test7)')

;WITH CTE AS (
    SELECT [x].[ID], [x].[Text], [x].[OpenBraket], [x].[CloseBraket]
    ,SUBSTRING([x].[Text], ([x].[OpenBraket] + 1), ([x].[CloseBraket] - [x].[OpenBraket] - 1)) AS [Value]
    ,SUBSTRING([x].[Text], ([x].[CloseBraket] + 1), (LEN([Text]) - [x].[CloseBraket])) AS [RemainingText]
    FROM (
        SELECT [ID], [Text]
            ,CHARINDEX('(', [Text]) AS [OpenBraket]
            ,CHARINDEX(')', [Text]) AS [CloseBraket]        
        FROM #Temp
        WHERE [Text] LIKE '%(%)%'
    ) x

    UNION ALL

    SELECT [z].[ID], [z].[Text], [z].[OpenBraket], [z].[CloseBraket]
        ,SUBSTRING([z].[RemainingText], ([z].[OpenBraket] + 1), ([z].[CloseBraket] - [z].[OpenBraket] - 1)) AS [Value]
        ,SUBSTRING([z].[RemainingText], ([z].[CloseBraket] + 1), (LEN([RemainingText]) - [z].[CloseBraket])) AS [RemainingText]
    FROM (
        SELECT [ID], [Text], [RemainingText]
            ,CHARINDEX('(', [RemainingText]) AS [OpenBraket]
            ,CHARINDEX(')', [RemainingText]) AS [CloseBraket]
        FROM [CTE]
        WHERE [RemainingText] LIKE '%(%)%'
    ) z
)

SELECT [ID], [Value] FROM CTE