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xp-sscanf-transact-sql.md

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title xp_sscanf (Transact-SQL)
description Reads data from the string into the argument locations specified by each format argument.
author markingmyname
ms.author maghan
ms.reviewer randolphwest
ms.date 06/23/2025
ms.service sql
ms.subservice system-objects
ms.topic reference
f1_keywords
xp_sscanf_TSQL
xp_sscanf
helpviewer_keywords
xp_sscanf
dev_langs
TSQL

xp_sscanf (Transact-SQL)

[!INCLUDE SQL Server]

Reads data from the string into the argument locations specified by each format argument.

:::image type="icon" source="../../includes/media/topic-link-icon.svg" border="false"::: Transact-SQL syntax conventions

Syntax

xp_sscanf { 'string' OUTPUT , 'format' } [ , 'argument' [ , ...n ] ]

Arguments

[!INCLUDE extended-stored-procedures]

'string' OUTPUT

The character string to read the argument values from.

When OUTPUT is specified, string puts the value of argument in the output parameter.

'format'

A formatted character string, similar to the values supported by the C-language sscanf function. Currently, only the %s format argument is supported.

'argument'

A varchar variable set to the value of the corresponding format argument.

n

A placeholder that indicates that a maximum of 50 arguments can be specified.

Return code values

0 (success) or 1 (failure).

Result set

xp_sscanf returns the following message:

Command(s) completed successfully.

Permissions

Requires membership in the public role.

Examples

The following example uses xp_sscanf to extract two values from a source string based on their positions in the format of the source string.

DECLARE @filename AS VARCHAR (20), @message AS VARCHAR (20);

EXECUTE xp_sscanf 'sync -b -fproducts10.tmp -rrandom', 'sync -b -f%s -r%s',
    @filename OUTPUT,
    @message OUTPUT;

SELECT @filename,
       @message;

[!INCLUDE ssResult]

(No column name) (No column name)
---------------- --------------------
products10.tmp   random

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