Parsing Suffix from a Name

Question

Hi All,
I want to parse a Name with patterns
You can see the patterns in Name Column. I want the Middle Name has null which has suffix ('JR','SR','II','III','IV','VI','VII','VIII','IX')
<font color="red"> No need to consider after 'AND' / '&' name </font>
Current Table contains in this Format (All Middle_name has Suffix)
Name                              First_name      Middle_name      Last_name
AGLIARDI SR THERESA                       AGLIARDI     SR     THERESA
ANNE SR SLATON                                      ANNE     SR     SLATON
ANDREW III UPHOLSTERY & SLIPCOVER          ANDREW     III     UPHOLSTERY
ANGELOZZI JR ORPALT AND CLESTON              ANGELOZZI     JR     ORPALTHelp me guys.......Thanks a lot
Require Table output to be updated as
Name                              First_name      Middle_name      Last_name
AGLIARDI SR THERESA                       AGLIARDI     null     THERESA
ANNE SR SLATON                                      ANNE     NULL     SLATON
ANDREW III UPHOLSTERY & SLIPCOVER          ANDREW     NULL     UPHOLSTERY
ANGELOZZI JR ORPALT AND CLESTON              ANGELOZZI     NULL     ORPALTEdited by: Krux_rap on Apr 11, 2012 7:56 PM

Answer 1

hi,
it would be helpful if you described your requirements in a more systematical way. Examples are good but never complete.
So try to figure out your rules needed and write them down. After that, try to impement them step by step.
with t as (
select 'ARLIE G WATKINSON JR AND MARYA WATKINSON' s from dual union all
select  'ANTHONY SR - DONNA MARQUEZ' from dual)
first of all you try to get the three parts
select
regexp_replace(s,'([^ ]*)(.*?)([^ ]*$)','\1') first_name
,regexp_replace(s,'([^ ]*)(.*?)([^ ]*$)','\2') middle_name
,regexp_replace(s,'([^ ]*)(.*?)([^ ]*$)','\3') last_name
from t
FIRST_NAME     MIDDLE_NAME     LAST_NAME
ARLIE           G WATKINSON JR AND MARYA      WATKINSON
ANTHONY           SR - DONNA      MARQUEZ
in the next step you apply the rules you need
with t as (
select 'ARLIE G WATKINSON JR AND MARYA WATKINSON' s from dual union all
select  'ANTHONY SR - DONNA MARQUEZ' from dual)
select
regexp_replace(s,'([^ ]*)(.*?)([^ ]*$)','\1') first_name
,case
when -- last_name with leading blank is in middle_name
    instr(regexp_replace(s,'([^ ]*)(.*?)([^ ]*$)','\2')
         ,' '||regexp_replace(s,'([^ ]*)(.*?)([^ ]*$)','\3')
    ) > 0
then -- take the part before the last_name as middle name         
    trim(
        substr( regexp_replace(s,'([^ ]*)(.*?)([^ ]*$)','\2')
               ,1
               ,instr(regexp_replace(s,'([^ ]*)(.*?)([^ ]*$)','\2')
                    ,' '||regexp_replace(s,'([^ ]*)(.*?)([^ ]*$)','\3')
when
    regexp_like(s,'JR|SR|II|III|IV|VI|VII|VIII|IX')
then
    null
else
    regexp_replace(s,'([^ ]*)(.*?)([^ ]*$)','\2')
end middle_name
,regexp_replace(s,'([^ ]*)(.*?)([^ ]*$)','\3') last_name
from t
FIRST_NAME     MIDDLE_NAME     LAST_NAME
ARLIE          G          WATKINSON
ANTHONY                    MARQUEZso now you have to formulate the rule for changing the last_name and the first_name, e.g. is the first name is follow by a comma. After that, we can implement it.
at the kast end, you may optimize the query, e.g. the are shorter ways for the regexp, but i used the verbose versio for demonstration effect.
regards
chris
p.s.
btw, could anyone please explain me how to get a result from toad to copy in a thread which displays the data fitting in the columns they belong to?
Edited by: chris227 on 12.04.2012 01:39
Edited by: chris227 on 13.04.2012 00:46
s instead of ANTHONY SR - DONNA MARQUEZ in the case expression