SQL query to retrieve a Rich Text Memo field

Question

What will be the select command to retrieve a field [ToxPatMemo] which is in RTF format? I just want to retrieve the Text contents without all the characters for underline, bold, etc.
Thanks in advance,
Raul
Raul Rego

Answer 1

Hi jjkgr,
We can create a function to convert RTF in a text column to plain text in SQL Server.
As I have tested in my local environment, the following query is for your reference:
CREATE FUNCTION dbo.fnParseRTF
@rtf VARCHAR(8000)
RETURNS VARCHAR(8000)
AS
BEGIN
DECLARE @Stage TABLE
Chr CHAR(1),
Pos INT
INSERT @Stage
Chr,
Pos
SELECT SUBSTRING(@rtf, Number, 1),
Number
FROM master..spt_values
WHERE Type = 'p'
AND SUBSTRING(@rtf, Number, 1) IN ('{', '}')
DECLARE @Pos1 INT,
@Pos2 INT
SELECT @Pos1 = MIN(Pos),
@Pos2 = MAX(Pos)
FROM @Stage
DELETE
FROM @Stage
WHERE Pos IN (@Pos1, @Pos2)
WHILE 1 = 1
BEGIN
SELECT TOP 1 @Pos1 = s1.Pos,
@Pos2 = s2.Pos
FROM @Stage AS s1
INNER JOIN @Stage AS s2 ON s2.Pos > s1.Pos
WHERE s1.Chr = '{'
AND s2.Chr = '}'
ORDER BY s2.Pos - s1.Pos
IF @@ROWCOUNT = 0
BREAK
DELETE
FROM @Stage
WHERE Pos IN (@Pos1, @Pos2)
UPDATE @Stage
SET Pos = Pos - @Pos2 + @Pos1 - 1
WHERE Pos > @Pos2
SET @rtf = STUFF(@rtf, @Pos1, @Pos2 - @Pos1 + 1, '')
END
SET @Pos1 = PATINDEX('%\cf[0123456789][0123456789 ]%', @rtf)
WHILE @Pos1 > 0
SELECT @Pos2 = CHARINDEX(' ', @rtf, @Pos1 + 1),
@rtf = STUFF(@rtf, @Pos1, @Pos2 - @Pos1 + 1, ''),
@Pos1 = PATINDEX('%\cf[0123456789][0123456789 ]%', @rtf)
SELECT @rtf = REPLACE(@rtf, '\pard', ''),
@rtf = REPLACE(@rtf, '\par', ''),
@rtf = LEFT(@rtf, LEN(@rtf) - 1)
SELECT @rtf = REPLACE(@rtf, '\b0 ', ''),
@rtf = REPLACE(@rtf, '\b ', '')
SELECT @rtf = STUFF(@rtf, 1, CHARINDEX(' ', @rtf), '')
RETURN @rtf
END
DECLARE @Sample TABLE (ID INT, data VARCHAR(8000))
INSERT @Sample
SELECT 1, '{\rtf1\ansi\ansicpg1252\deff0\deflang1053{\fonttbl{\f0\fswiss\fcharset0 Arial;}}
{\colortbl ;\red255\green0\blue0;\red0\green128\blue0;\red0\green0\blue255;}
{\*\generator Msftedit 5.41.15.1507;}\viewkind4\uc1\pard\f0\fs20 P\cf1 e\cf0 ter\par
\cf2 L\cf0 ar\b s\b0 s\cf3 o\cf0 n\par
}' UNION ALL
SELECT 2, '{\rtf1\ansi\deff0{\fonttbl{\f0\fnil\fcharset0 Tahoma;}}
{\colortbl ;\red0\green0\blue0;}
{\*\generator Riched20 5.50.99.2014;}\viewkind4\uc1\pard\cf1\f0\fs18\lang1033 ~200 LF streambank stabilization to provide structural protection\par}'
SELECT ID,
dbo.fnParseRTF(data)
FROM @Sample
The result of this query is:
1              Peter Larsson
2              ~200 LF streambank stabilization to provide structural protection
If you have any question, please feel free to let me know.
Regards,
Jerry Li