String.Format like functionality in T-SQL?

Question

I\'m looking for a built-in function/extended function in T-SQL for string manipulation similar to the String.Format method in .NET.

Answer 1

One more idea.

Although this is not a universal solution - it is simple and works, at least for me :)

For one placeholder {0}:

create function dbo.Format1
(
    @String  nvarchar(4000),
    @Param0  sql_variant
)
returns nvarchar(4000)
as
begin
    declare @Null nvarchar(4) = N'NULL';

    return replace(@String, N'{0}', cast(isnull(@Param0, @Null) as nvarchar(4000)));    
end

For two placeholders {0} and {1}:

create function dbo.Format2
(
    @String  nvarchar(4000),
    @Param0  sql_variant,
    @Param1  sql_variant
)
returns nvarchar(4000)
as
begin
    declare @Null nvarchar(4) = N'NULL';

    set @String = replace(@String, N'{0}', cast(isnull(@Param0, @Null) as nvarchar(4000)));
       return     replace(@String, N'{1}', cast(isnull(@Param1, @Null) as nvarchar(4000))); 
end

For three placeholders {0}, {1} and {2}:

create function dbo.Format3
(
    @String  nvarchar(4000),
    @Param0  sql_variant,
    @Param1  sql_variant,
    @Param2  sql_variant
)
returns nvarchar(4000)
as
begin
    declare @Null nvarchar(4) = N'NULL';

    set @String = replace(@String, N'{0}', cast(isnull(@Param0, @Null) as nvarchar(4000)));
    set @String = replace(@String, N'{1}', cast(isnull(@Param1, @Null) as nvarchar(4000))); 
       return     replace(@String, N'{2}', cast(isnull(@Param2, @Null) as nvarchar(4000)));
end

and so on...

Such an approach allows us to use these functions in SELECT statement and with parameters of nvarchar, number, bit and datetime datatypes.

For example:

declare @Param0 nvarchar(10) = N'IPSUM' ,
        @Param1 int          = 1234567  ,
        @Param2 datetime2(0) = getdate();

select dbo.Format3(N'Lorem {0} dolor, {1} elit at {2}', @Param0, @Param1, @Param2);