Convert varchar value to int without throwing an exception in case of bad input

Is there a way to call the Sql Server functions Convert/Cast without having them throw an exception?

Basically, I have a column that contains alphanumeric data and I am extracting values from the field and I want to display the data as an integer value. Sometimes the data extracted is not a number and in those cases I want Sql Server to skip over that line (return null or 0).

Right now the Sql select statement f开发者_运维技巧ails with a "Conversion failed when converting the nvarchar value 'xxxxx' to data type int.

What I want is something similar to C#'s int.TryParse.

Suggestions?

select case when isnumeric(YourColumn + '.0e0') = 1 
            then cast(YourColumn as int) 
            else NULL 
       end /* case */
    from YourTable

In SQL Server 2012 there are functions for this

try_cast
try_convert
try_parse

Check to make sure it is an integer in your where clause before casting using the following function

    /****** Object:  UserDefinedFunction [dbo].[IsInteger]    Script Date: 04/10/2013 09:46:19 ******/
SET ANSI_NULLS ON
GO

SET QUOTED_IDENTIFIER ON
GO

CREATE Function [dbo].[IsInteger](@Value VarChar(50))
Returns Bit
As 
Begin

DECLARE @is_int bit
SELECT @is_int = CASE
    WHEN @Value IS NULL  THEN 0
    WHEN @Value = ' ' THEN 0
    WHEN ISNUMERIC(@Value + '.0e0')  = 0     THEN 0
    WHEN @Value LIKE '%\[^-+ 0-9\]%' THEN 0
    WHEN CAST(@Value AS NUMERIC(38, 0))
      NOT BETWEEN -2147483648. AND 2147483647. THEN 0
    ELSE 1
  END 

return @is_int

End
GO

Then do WHERE dbo.IsInteger(yourstring)

Try with this function that I created

Official link: https://gist.github.com/jotapardo/800881eba8c5072eb8d99ce6eb74c8bb

DECLARE @strSQL NVARCHAR(1000)
IF NOT EXISTS (SELECT * FROM dbo.sysobjects WHERE id = OBJECT_ID(N'[dbo].[TRY_CAST]'))
    BEGIN
        SET @strSQL = 'CREATE FUNCTION [dbo].[TRY_CAST] () RETURNS INT AS BEGIN RETURN 0 END'
        EXEC sys.sp_executesql @strSQL
    END

SET ANSI_NULLS ON
GO
SET QUOTED_IDENTIFIER ON
GO

/*
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Description:    
                    Syntax 
                    ---------------
                    dbo.TRY_CAST(Expression, Data_Type, ReturnValueIfErrorCast)

                    +---------------------------+-----------------------+
                    |   Expression              |   VARCHAR(8000)       |
                    +---------------------------+-----------------------+
                    |   Data_Type               |   VARCHAR(8000)       |
                    +---------------------------+-----------------------+
                    |   ReturnValueIfErrorCast  |   SQL_VARIANT = NULL  |
                    +---------------------------+-----------------------+


                    Arguments
                    ---------------
                    expression
                    The value to be cast. Any valid expression.

                    Data_Type
                    The data type into which to cast expression.

                    ReturnValueIfErrorCast
                    Value returned if cast fails or is not supported. Required. Set the DEFAULT value by default.


                    Return Type
                    ----------------
                    Returns value cast to SQL_VARIANT type if the cast succeeds; otherwise, returns null if the parameter @pReturnValueIfErrorCast is set to DEFAULT, 
                    or that the user indicates.


                    Remarks
                    ----------------
                    dbo.TRY_CAST function simulates the TRY_CAST function reserved of SQL SERVER 2012 for using in SQL SERVER 2008. 
                    dbo.TRY_CAST function takes the value passed to it and tries to convert it to the specified Data_Type. 
                    If the cast succeeds, dbo.TRY_CAST returns the value as SQL_VARIANT type; if the cast doesn´t succees, null is returned if the parameter @pReturnValueIfErrorCast is set to DEFAULT. 
                    If the Data_Type is unsupported will return @pReturnValueIfErrorCast.
                    dbo.TRY_CAST function requires user make an explicit CAST or CONVERT in ANY statements.
                    This version of dbo.TRY_CAST only supports CAST for INT, DATE, NUMERIC and BIT types.


                    Examples
                    ====================================================================================================

                    --A. Test TRY_CAST function returns null

                        SELECT   
                            CASE WHEN dbo.TRY_CAST('6666666166666212', 'INT', DEFAULT) IS NULL   
                            THEN 'Cast failed'  
                            ELSE 'Cast succeeded'  
                        END AS Result; 

                    GO

                    --B. Error Cast With User Value

                        SELECT   
                            dbo.TRY_CAST('2147483648', 'INT', DEFAULT) AS [Error Cast With DEFAULT],
                            dbo.TRY_CAST('2147483648', 'INT', -1) AS [Error Cast With User Value],
                            dbo.TRY_CAST('2147483648', 'INT', NULL) AS [Error Cast With User NULL Value]; 

                        GO 

                    --C. Additional CAST or CONVERT required in any assignment statement

                        DECLARE @IntegerVariable AS INT

                        SET @IntegerVariable = CAST(dbo.TRY_CAST(123, 'INT', DEFAULT) AS INT)

                        SELECT @IntegerVariable

                        GO 

                        IF OBJECT_ID('tempdb..#temp') IS NOT NULL
                            DROP TABLE #temp

                        CREATE TABLE #temp (
                            Id INT IDENTITY
                            , FieldNumeric NUMERIC(3, 1)
                            )

                        INSERT INTO dbo.#temp (FieldNumeric)
                        SELECT CAST(dbo.TRY_CAST(12.3, 'NUMERIC(3,1)', 0) AS NUMERIC(3, 1));--Need explicit CAST on INSERT statements

                        SELECT *
                        FROM #temp

                        DROP TABLE #temp

                        GO 

                    --D. Supports CAST for INT, DATE, NUMERIC and BIT types.

                        SELECT dbo.TRY_CAST(2147483648, 'INT', 0) AS [Cast failed]
                            , dbo.TRY_CAST(2147483647, 'INT', 0) AS [Cast succeeded]
                            , SQL_VARIANT_PROPERTY(dbo.TRY_CAST(212, 'INT', 0), 'BaseType') AS [BaseType];

                        SELECT dbo.TRY_CAST('AAAA0101', 'DATE', DEFAULT) AS [Cast failed]
                            , dbo.TRY_CAST('20160101', 'DATE', DEFAULT) AS [Cast succeeded]
                            , SQL_VARIANT_PROPERTY(dbo.TRY_CAST('2016-01-01', 'DATE', DEFAULT), 'BaseType') AS [BaseType];

                        SELECT dbo.TRY_CAST(1.23, 'NUMERIC(3,1)', DEFAULT) AS [Cast failed]
                            , dbo.TRY_CAST(12.3, 'NUMERIC(3,1)', DEFAULT) AS [Cast succeeded]
                            , SQL_VARIANT_PROPERTY(dbo.TRY_CAST(12.3, 'NUMERIC(3,1)', DEFAULT), 'BaseType') AS [BaseType];

                        SELECT dbo.TRY_CAST('A', 'BIT', DEFAULT) AS [Cast failed]
                            , dbo.TRY_CAST(1, 'BIT', DEFAULT) AS [Cast succeeded]
                            , SQL_VARIANT_PROPERTY(dbo.TRY_CAST('123', 'BIT', DEFAULT), 'BaseType') AS [BaseType];

                        GO 

                    --E. B. TRY_CAST return NULL on unsupported data_types

                        SELECT dbo.TRY_CAST(4, 'xml', DEFAULT) AS [unsupported];  

                        GO  

                    ====================================================================================================

    Responsible:    Javier Pardo
    Date:           diciembre 29/2016
    WB tests:       Javier Pardo 

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
*/

ALTER FUNCTION dbo.TRY_CAST
(
    @pExpression AS VARCHAR(8000),
    @pData_Type AS VARCHAR(8000),
    @pReturnValueIfErrorCast AS SQL_VARIANT = NULL
)
RETURNS SQL_VARIANT
AS
BEGIN
    --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    --  INT 
    --------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    IF @pData_Type = 'INT'
    BEGIN
        IF ISNUMERIC(@pExpression) = 1
        BEGIN
            DECLARE @pExpressionINT AS FLOAT = CAST(@pExpression AS FLOAT)

            IF @pExpressionINT BETWEEN - 2147483648.0 AND 2147483647.0
            BEGIN
                RETURN CAST(@pExpressionINT as INT)
            END
            ELSE
            BEGIN
                RETURN @pReturnValueIfErrorCast
            END --FIN IF @pExpressionINT BETWEEN - 2147483648.0 AND 2147483647.0
        END
        ELSE
        BEGIN
            RETURN @pReturnValueIfErrorCast
        END -- FIN IF ISNUMERIC(@pExpression) = 1
    END -- FIN IF @pData_Type = 'INT'

    --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    --  DATE    
    --------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    IF @pData_Type = 'DATE'
    BEGIN
        IF ISDATE(@pExpression) = 1
        BEGIN
            DECLARE @pExpressionDATE AS DATE = cast(@pExpression AS DATE)

            RETURN cast(@pExpressionDATE as DATE)
        END
        ELSE 
        BEGIN
            RETURN @pReturnValueIfErrorCast
        END --FIN IF ISDATE(@pExpression) = 1
    END --FIN IF @pData_Type = 'DATE'

    --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    --  NUMERIC 
    --------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    IF @pData_Type LIKE 'NUMERIC%'
    BEGIN

        IF ISNUMERIC(@pExpression) = 1
        BEGIN

            DECLARE @TotalDigitsOfType AS INT = SUBSTRING(@pData_Type,CHARINDEX('(',@pData_Type)+1,  CHARINDEX(',',@pData_Type) - CHARINDEX('(',@pData_Type) - 1)
                , @TotalDecimalsOfType AS INT = SUBSTRING(@pData_Type,CHARINDEX(',',@pData_Type)+1,  CHARINDEX(')',@pData_Type) - CHARINDEX(',',@pData_Type) - 1)
                , @TotalDigitsOfValue AS INT 
                , @TotalDecimalsOfValue AS INT 
                , @TotalWholeDigitsOfType AS INT 
                , @TotalWholeDigitsOfValue AS INT 

            SET @pExpression = REPLACE(@pExpression, ',','.')

            SET @TotalDigitsOfValue = LEN(REPLACE(@pExpression, '.',''))
            SET @TotalDecimalsOfValue = CASE Charindex('.', @pExpression)
                                        WHEN 0
                                            THEN 0
                                        ELSE Len(Cast(Cast(Reverse(CONVERT(VARCHAR(50), @pExpression, 128)) AS FLOAT) AS BIGINT))
                                        END 
            SET @TotalWholeDigitsOfType = @TotalDigitsOfType - @TotalDecimalsOfType
            SET @TotalWholeDigitsOfValue = @TotalDigitsOfValue - @TotalDecimalsOfValue

            -- The total digits can not be greater than the p part of NUMERIC (p, s)
            -- The total of decimals can not be greater than the part s of NUMERIC (p, s)
            -- The total digits of the whole part can not be greater than the subtraction between p and s
            IF (@TotalDigitsOfValue <= @TotalDigitsOfType) AND (@TotalDecimalsOfValue <= @TotalDecimalsOfType) AND (@TotalWholeDigitsOfValue <= @TotalWholeDigitsOfType)
            BEGIN
                DECLARE @pExpressionNUMERIC AS FLOAT
                SET @pExpressionNUMERIC = CAST (ROUND(@pExpression, @TotalDecimalsOfValue) AS FLOAT) 

                RETURN @pExpressionNUMERIC --Returns type FLOAT
            END 
            else
            BEGIN
                RETURN @pReturnValueIfErrorCast
            END-- FIN IF (@TotalDigitisOfValue <= @TotalDigits) AND (@TotalDecimalsOfValue <= @TotalDecimals) 

        END
        ELSE 
        BEGIN
            RETURN @pReturnValueIfErrorCast
        END --FIN IF ISNUMERIC(@pExpression) = 1
    END --IF @pData_Type LIKE 'NUMERIC%'

    --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    --  BIT 
    --------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    IF @pData_Type LIKE 'BIT'
    BEGIN
        IF ISNUMERIC(@pExpression) = 1
        BEGIN
            RETURN CAST(@pExpression AS BIT) 
        END
        ELSE 
        BEGIN
            RETURN @pReturnValueIfErrorCast
        END --FIN IF ISNUMERIC(@pExpression) = 1
    END --IF @pData_Type LIKE 'BIT'


    --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    --  FLOAT   
    --------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    IF @pData_Type LIKE 'FLOAT'
    BEGIN
        IF ISNUMERIC(REPLACE(REPLACE(@pExpression, CHAR(13), ''), CHAR(10), '')) = 1
        BEGIN

            RETURN CAST(@pExpression AS FLOAT) 
        END
        ELSE 
        BEGIN

            IF REPLACE(@pExpression, CHAR(13), '') = '' --Only white spaces are replaced, not new lines
            BEGIN
                RETURN 0
            END
            ELSE 
            BEGIN
                RETURN @pReturnValueIfErrorCast
            END --IF REPLACE(@pExpression, CHAR(13), '') = '' 

        END --FIN IF ISNUMERIC(@pExpression) = 1
    END --IF @pData_Type LIKE 'FLOAT'

    --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    --  Any other unsupported data type will return NULL or the value assigned by the user to @pReturnValueIfErrorCast  
    --------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    RETURN @pReturnValueIfErrorCast

END

And try this:

SELECT dbo.TRY_CAST(YourColumn, 'INT', NULL)

For now only supports the data types INT, DATE, NUMERIC, BIT and FLOAT

I hope you find it useful.