How to check data in a column separated by a colon (:)

Posted by tonsils on Stack Overflow See other posts from Stack Overflow or by tonsils
Published on 2010-12-23T03:45:55Z Indexed on 2010/12/23 3:54 UTC
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Hi,

I have an Oracle database column, say col1, that has the following values:

Col1 (A:B:C)

I now need to come along and add to this Col1, only if it doesn’t exist, additional values but unsure how to go about checking to see if Col1 already contains these values.

Scenario might be as follows:

1) Need to add B   => Outcome=> check Col1 – B exists, do not add.
2) Need to add A:C => Outcome=> check Col1 – A and C exists, do not add.
3) Need to add C:D => Outcome=> check Col1 – C exists but D doesn’t, do not add C but need to add D
4) Need to add G  => Outcome=> check Col1 – G doesn’t, need to add G

Using Oracle sql or pl/sql I am unsure how to go about processing the above to ensure whether items exist or don’t exist and whether to add or not to add to Col1

Hoping someone can assist with a means of checking the data based on the above.

Thanks

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