Hi Donald, thanks for this valuable comment. Regarding the regexp-function, I am not really sure whether I understood it entirely or not: is it correct that I can use the regexp *only* in external programs (e.g. a perl programme), but not on the sqlite command line? There is no possibility to activate regexp also for the sqlite-command line? Sorry for asking these questions I am using sqlite on the command-line and via sqlitebrowser - and I am no programmer (hm.). Unfortunately, the substr-function won't do the job in my case, as the position of substrings may vary within my tables.
Best regards, Wolfgang --------- Am Montag 07 August 2006 pH:35:17 nachmittags/abends schrieb Griggs, Donald: > Hi Wolfgang, > > Regarding: "...thank you very much for your reply. But is there no command > within sqlite to do this? In my case, only substrings of the cells of one > column need to be changed!" > > > Sqlite was designed as a small SQL library -- extremely small, considering > its capabilities -- implementing most of the SQL92 standard. > > The SQL commands are designed to store and retrieve data. > > The idea is that one incorporates this library into one's own program, > using a compatible programming language of one's choice. Using your chosen > programming language, you perform the sorts of data transformations you > write about. > > So I don't think many would think it a shortcoming of sqlite that it > doesn't provide general programming capabilities, but rather that it avoids > *duplication* by *not* including such things. > > Not only can you include sqlite in a program written in C, perl, VB, etc., > but you can link an sqlite database to Open Office or Microsoft Access as > "front ends" to your database in order to manipulate data. > > Note that there is ALSO an sqlite command line *utility*, which is a useful > program allowing one to enter sqlite commands without writing a program or > linking another "front end", but it's not intended to be a general data > manipulation package. > > That being said, you may want to be sure to look at page: > http://www.sqlite.org/lang_expr.html > including the "substr()" and concatenate expressions. The "regex()" > function is not included in the command-line utility, but you can link in > one of your choice. > > Sqlite also allows you to define your own SQL-callable functions within > your program.
