StringTable SQL Server Reference Documentation
StringTable
Current Version: 11.6.0
Chilkat.StringTable
Store a list of strings in insertion order and retrieve individual
entries by zero-based index.
Add strings directly, append strings from a file, or load line-delimited
text from a
Find entries containing a substring or matching a wildcard pattern when
filtering or locating text values.
Sort the string collection when deterministic ordering or user-facing
display order is needed.
Split delimited text into separate string-table entries for easier
indexing, searching, sorting, or saving.
Convert the table back to line-delimited text, copy it to a
For an extended overview, see
StringTable Class Overview.
Store, load, search, sort, split, retrieve, and save ordered lists of strings.
Chilkat.StringTable is a simple ordered collection of strings.
It can append strings directly, load one string per line from files or
StringBuilder, search for substrings or wildcard matches, sort
the collection, split strings into entries, retrieve strings by index, export
the table as line-delimited text, and save the result to a file.
Ordered string collection
Append and import
StringBuilder.
Search strings
Sort entries
Split into entries
Export and save
StringBuilder, or save the collection to a file.
StringTable when application code needs a lightweight
ordered list of text values. Append or load the strings, search or sort as
needed, retrieve entries by index with StringAt or
StringAtSb, then export the final list as line-delimited text or
save it to a file.
Object Creation
DECLARE @hr int
DECLARE @stringTable int
EXEC @hr = sp_OACreate 'Chilkat.StringTable', @stringTable OUT
IF @hr <> 0
BEGIN
PRINT 'Failed to create ActiveX component'
RETURN
END
-- ... use @stringTable ...
EXEC @hr = sp_OADestroy @stringTableT-SQL uses the Chilkat ActiveX through the OLE Automation stored procedures. They must be enabled once on the server (EXEC sp_configure 'Ole Automation Procedures', 1; RECONFIGURE;), and the Chilkat ActiveX registered must match the bitness of the SQL Server instance (64-bit for a 64-bit SQL Server). To bind to a specific major version of Chilkat, append the major version number to the ProgID, such as sp_OACreate 'Chilkat.StringTable.11' for Chilkat v11.*.*.
sp_OACreate returns an object token (an int) that is passed as the first argument of every sp_OAMethod, sp_OAGetProperty and sp_OASetProperty call, and released with sp_OADestroy. Objects returned by methods (such as an HttpResponse or JsonObject) are also tokens received through an int OUT parameter; they must likewise be destroyed, and the OUT parameter is NULL when the method fails to return an object. Objects passed as arguments are passed by their token. When an OLE Automation procedure itself fails (non-zero @hr), sp_OAGetErrorInfo describes the error.
Data types: strings are nvarchar(4000); integers, booleans (1 or 0) and object tokens are int; dates are datetime. In the signatures on this page, @success, @iResult, @sResult and the like are the OUT variables receiving a method's return value, @iValue / @sValue receive or supply a property value, and the remaining @ variables are the method's arguments in order.
A string returned through an OUT parameter is limited to 4000 characters. For longer values, retrieve the result as a result set into a table variable instead of an OUT parameter, for example DECLARE @tmp TABLE (outputLine ntext) followed by INSERT INTO @tmp EXEC sp_OAGetProperty @stringTable, 'LastErrorText'. See string length limitations for strings returned by sp_OAMethod calls.
Methods that pass or return raw byte arrays are not shown on this page, because varbinary(max) values cannot be exchanged through sp_OAMethod (see varbinary(max) limitation). Use the BinData-based alternatives (methods ending in Bd) or the base64 / hex string-encoded variants instead. Binary properties (such as LastBinaryResult) can be retrieved as a result set into a table variable, as shown in their signatures. Asynchronous (*Async) methods and event callbacks are not available from SQL Server.
Properties
Count
The number of strings in the table.
topDebugLogFilePath
EXEC sp_OASetProperty @stringTable, 'DebugLogFilePath', @sValue
If set to a file path, this property logs the LastErrorText of each Chilkat method or property call to the specified file. This logging helps identify the context and history of Chilkat calls leading up to any crash or hang, aiding in debugging.
Enabling the VerboseLogging property provides more detailed information. This property is mainly used for debugging rare instances where a Chilkat method call causes a hang or crash, which should generally not happen.
Possible causes of hangs include:
- A timeout property set to 0, indicating an infinite timeout.
- A hang occurring within an event callback in the application code.
- An internal bug in the Chilkat code causing the hang.
LastBinaryResult
This property is mainly used in SQL Server stored procedures to retrieve binary data from the last method call that returned binary data. It is only accessible if Chilkat.Global.KeepBinaryResult is set to 1. This feature allows for the retrieval of large varbinary results in an SQL Server environment, which has restrictions on returning large data via method calls, though temp tables can handle binary properties.
LastErrorHtml
Provides HTML-formatted information about the last called method or property. If a method call fails or behaves unexpectedly, check this property for details. Note that information is available regardless of the method call's success.
topLastErrorText
Provides plain text information about the last called method or property. If a method call fails or behaves unexpectedly, check this property for details. Note that information is available regardless of the method call's success.
LastErrorXml
Provides XML-formatted information about the last called method or property. If a method call fails or behaves unexpectedly, check this property for details. Note that information is available regardless of the method call's success.
topLastMethodSuccess
EXEC sp_OASetProperty @stringTable, 'LastMethodSuccess', @iValue
Indicates the success or failure of the most recent method call: 1 means success, 0 means failure. This property remains unchanged by property setters or getters. This method is present to address challenges in checking for null or Nothing returns in certain programming languages. Note: This property does not apply to methods that return integer values or to boolean-returning methods where the boolean does not indicate success or failure.
LastStringResult
In SQL Server stored procedures, this property holds the string return value of the most recent method call that returns a string. It is accessible only when Chilkat.Global.KeepStringResult is set to TRUE. SQL Server has limitations on string lengths returned from methods and properties, but temp tables can be used to access large strings.
LastStringResultLen
The length, in characters, of the string contained in the LastStringResult property.
topVerboseLogging
EXEC sp_OASetProperty @stringTable, 'VerboseLogging', @iValue
If set to 1, then the contents of LastErrorText (or LastErrorXml, or LastErrorHtml) may contain more verbose information. The default value is 0. Verbose logging should only be used for debugging. The potentially large quantity of logged information may adversely affect peformance.
Version
Methods
Append
AppendFromFile
Appends strings, one per line, from a file. Each line in the path should be no longer than the length specified in maxLineLen. The charset indicates the character encoding of the contents of the file, such as utf-8, iso-8859-1, Shift_JIS, etc.
Returns 1 for success, 0 for failure.
topAppendFromSb
Appends strings, one per line, from the contents of a StringBuilder object.
Returns 1 for success, 0 for failure.
Clear
Removes all the strings from the table.
topFindMatch
This string table object holds strings with wildcards. The method returns the index of the wildcarded string that matches the text in sb, or -1 if no match is found. caseSensitive specifies whether the matching should be case-sensitive.
FindSubstring
Return the index of the first string in the table containing substr. Begins searching strings starting at startIndex. If caseSensitive is 1, then the search is case sensitive. If caseSensitive is 0 then the search is case insensitive. Returns -1 if the substr is not found.
GetStrings
Return the number of strings specified by count, one per line, starting at startIdx. To return the entire table, pass 0 values for both startIdx and count. Set crlf equal to 1 to emit with CRLF line endings, or 0 to emit LF-only line endings. The last string is emitted includes the line ending.
Returns NULL on failure
IntAt
Returns the Nth string in the table, converted to an integer value. The index is 0-based. (The first string is at index 0.) Returns -1 if no string is found at the specified index. Returns 0 if the string at the specified index exist, but is not an integer.
SaveToFile
Saves the string table to a file. The charset is the character encoding to use, such as utf-8, iso-8859-1, windows-1252, Shift_JIS, gb2312, etc. If bCrlf is 1, then CRLF line endings are used, otherwise LF-only line endings are used.
Returns 1 for success, 0 for failure.
topSort
Sorts the strings in the collection in ascending or descending order. To sort in ascending order, set ascending to 1, otherwise set ascending equal to 0.
Returns 1 for success, 0 for failure.
topSplitAndAppend
Splits a string into parts based on a single character delimiterChar. If exceptDoubleQuoted is 1, then the delimiter char found between double quotes is not treated as a delimiter. If exceptEscaped is 1, then an escaped (with a backslash) delimiter char is not treated as a delimiter.
Returns 1 for success, 0 for failure.
StringAt
Returns the Nth string in the table. The index is 0-based. (The first string is at index 0.)
Returns NULL on failure
StringAtSb
Appends the Nth string in the table to sb. The index is 0-based. (The first string is at index 0.)
Returns 1 for success, 0 for failure.
topToSb
Appends the entire string table to sb using CRLF line endings.
Returns 1 for success, 0 for failure.
topWordFollowing
The method performs a case-insensitive search to return the index of a table entry matching sb, or -1 if there is no match. Set captureEmailAddr to 1 if the target word is expected to be an email address, otherwise set captureEmailAddr to 0. sbWord will receive the word (email address) following the matched text.
This method helps replace the outdated Chilkat Bounce class, which was used for identifying and categorizing bounced email types.