Pattern matching SQL

Question

Hello
I have a data set that is similar to the following
00-1111-2222
01-2000
ABCDEFG
A bcde
04-3456
08-2001
I want to retrieve only those records that match the following pattern: ##-YYYY where ## is a number and YYYY is a year
So in this case I only want to retrieve 01-2000 and 08-2001. I tried using regexp_like but was unsuccessful (error invalid operator)
Is there a simple way to do this without using functions or PLSQL, just in SQL? It does not have to be with regexp_like, just any SQL tool.
Thanks in advance, any help is appreciated

Answer 1

Hi,
dbarcell wrote:
It would be safe to use any year greater than 1995
I would not want to return 04-3456 in this query3456 is a year greater than 1995. Why don't you want it?
The following selects rows where str fits the pattern, and the year is betwwen 1995 and 2100. You can easily change it to any other 4-digit years:
WHERE     REGEXP_LIKE ( str
              , '^\d{2}-\d{4}$'
AND     SUBSTR (str, 4, 4)     BETWEEN     '1995'
                                AND     '2100'  
I hope this answers your question.
If not, post a little sample data (CREATE TABLE and INSERT statements, relevant columns only), and also post the results you want from that data.
Explain, using specific examples, how you get those results from that data.
Always say which version of Oracle you're using.
Edited by: Frank Kulash on Aug 9, 2011 5:58 PM
Here's another way; slightly faster, and works in versions earlier than Oracle 10:
WHERE     TRANSLATE ( str
            , '012345678'
            , '999999999'
            )          = '99-9999'
AND     SUBSTR (str, 4, 4)     BETWEEN     '1995'
                                AND     '2100' If the first two digits have to be between '01' and '12', then add
AND     SUBSTR (str, 1, 2)     BETWEEN     '01'
                                AND     '12'to either version.