Sort by or find the longest word in a varchar2 field

Question

Oracle Database 10g Enterprise Edition Release 10.2.0.4.0 - 64bi
PL/SQL Release 10.2.0.4.0 - Production
CORE     10.2.0.4.0     Production
TNS for HPUX: Version 10.2.0.4.0 - Production
NLSRTL Version 10.2.0.4.0 - Production
drop table event;
create table event  (event_title_nm varchar2(1000));
SET DEFINE OFF;
Insert into EVENT
   (EVENT_TITLE_NM)
Values
   ('CREATING A NEW CLASS WORD FOR INDICATOR, - _IN');
Insert into EVENT
   (EVENT_TITLE_NM)
Values
   ('Unknown Title');
Insert into EVENT
   (EVENT_TITLE_NM)
Values
   ('MASAL REASON TEXT');
Insert into EVENT
   (EVENT_TITLE_NM)
Values
   ('Note/Attachment Modifications and Amendments');
Insert into EVENT
   (EVENT_TITLE_NM)
Values
   ('Installation (replaces change request  66)');
Insert into EVENT
   (EVENT_TITLE_NM)
Values
   ('Unknown Title');
Insert into EVENT
   (EVENT_TITLE_NM)
Values
   ('Installation (replaces change request  66)');
Insert into EVENT
   (EVENT_TITLE_NM)
Values
   ('List Item Identifier Change');
Insert into EVENT
   (EVENT_TITLE_NM)
Values
   ('USER_ID in WORKFLOW_TASK_ASSIGNMENT');
COMMIT;I would like to select or order by the length of the longest word in the field
word defined as continous characters.
so my output would be for the first two returned
event_title_nm
USER_ID in WORKFLOW_TASK_ASSIGNMENT
Note/Attachment Modifications and Amendmentsbecause WORKFLOW_TASK_ASSIGNMENT is the largest word
and Note/Attachment is the second largest.
the reason I was trying to find thiis is that I'm displaying this value on a web page and I need to figure out the longest
continuous word because the css will not wrap a the text in the middle of a word. so it ends up pushing my entire div below where I would like it to go.
Edited by: pollywog on Oct 25, 2011 8:43 AM

Answer 1

pollywog wrote:
Oracle Database 10g Enterprise Edition Release 10.2.0.4.0 - 64bi
PL/SQL Release 10.2.0.4.0 - Production
CORE     10.2.0.4.0     Production
TNS for HPUX: Version 10.2.0.4.0 - Production
NLSRTL Version 10.2.0.4.0 - Production
drop table event;
create table event  (event_title_nm varchar2(1000));
SET DEFINE OFF;
Insert into EVENT
(EVENT_TITLE_NM)
Values
('CREATING A NEW CLASS WORD FOR INDICATOR, - _IN');
Insert into EVENT
(EVENT_TITLE_NM)
Values
('Unknown Title');
Insert into EVENT
(EVENT_TITLE_NM)
Values
('MASAL REASON TEXT');
Insert into EVENT
(EVENT_TITLE_NM)
Values
('Note/Attachment Modifications and Amendments');
Insert into EVENT
(EVENT_TITLE_NM)
Values
('Installation (replaces change request  66)');
Insert into EVENT
(EVENT_TITLE_NM)
Values
('Unknown Title');
Insert into EVENT
(EVENT_TITLE_NM)
Values
('Installation (replaces change request  66)');
Insert into EVENT
(EVENT_TITLE_NM)
Values
('List Item Identifier Change');
Insert into EVENT
(EVENT_TITLE_NM)
Values
('USER_ID in WORKFLOW_TASK_ASSIGNMENT');
COMMIT;I would like to select or order by the length of the longest word in the field
word defined as continous characters.
so my output would be for the first two returned
event_title_nm
USER_ID in WORKFLOW_TASK_ASSIGNMENT
Note/Attachment Modifications and Amendmentsbecause WORKFLOW_TASK_ASSIGNMENT is the largest word
and Note/Attachment is the second largest.
the reason I was trying to find thiis is that I'm displaying this value on a web page and I need to figure out the longest
continuous word because the css will not wrap a the text in the middle of a word. so it ends up pushing my entire div below where I would like it to go.
Edited by: pollywog on Oct 25, 2011 8:43 AMORDER BY LENGTH(EVENT_TITLE_NM)