# Find and replace text inside values

Shape / columns

A variant of [Replace values](https://meridian.online/operations/replace-values).

Replace a substring or pattern wherever it occurs inside a text value.

Page: <https://meridian.online/operations/replace-values/find-and-replace-text-inside-values>

## Status

Runs as a SQL step.

arcform carries it as a `sql:` step today.

## The DuckDB step

replace a substring wherever it occurs inside a value

It reads the `orders` table the proofs share. Create it first:

```sql
CREATE TABLE orders AS SELECT * FROM (VALUES
  (1,  'Alice Ng',      'north', DATE '2026-01-03', 120.00, 'widget', 'a|b',   '{"channel":"web","items":[1,2]}'),
  (2,  'alice ng',      'north', DATE '2026-01-05',  80.50, 'gadget', 'b',     '{"channel":"shop","items":[3]}'),
  (3,  'Bob  Okafor',   'south', DATE '2026-01-05', 300.00, 'widget', 'a|c',   '{"channel":"web","items":[4,5,6]}'),
  (4,  'Carla Díaz',    'east',  DATE '2026-01-09',  NULL,  'gizmo',  NULL,    '{"channel":"web","items":[]}'),
  (5,  'Bob Okafor',    'south', DATE '2026-01-12',  45.25, 'gadget', 'c',     '{"channel":"phone","items":[7]}'),
  (6,  'Dev Patel',     'west',  DATE '2026-01-12', 510.00, 'widget', 'a',     '{"channel":"web","items":[8,9]}'),
  (7,  'Carla Diaz',    'east',  DATE '2026-01-20',  99.99, 'gizmo',  'b|c',   '{"channel":"shop","items":[10]}'),
  (8,  'Dev Patel',     'west',  DATE '2026-02-02', 510.00, 'widget', 'a',     '{"channel":"web","items":[8,9]}'),
  (9,  'Eve Larsen',    NULL,    DATE '2026-02-03',  15.00, 'gadget', NULL,    '{"channel":"web","items":[11]}'),
  (10, 'Alice Ng',      'north', DATE '2026-02-10', 220.00, 'gizmo',  'a|b|c', '{"channel":"phone","items":[12,13]}')
) t(order_id, customer, region, order_date, amount, product, tags, meta);
```

Then run the statement:

```sql
CREATE TEMP TABLE result AS
SELECT order_id, customer, replace(customer, '  ', ' ') AS customer_clean, product, replace(product, 'get', 'GET') AS product_marked FROM orders;
SELECT * FROM result;
SELECT CASE WHEN ((SELECT customer_clean FROM result WHERE order_id = 3) = 'Bob Okafor' AND (SELECT count(*) FROM result WHERE customer_clean <> customer) = 1 AND (SELECT list(DISTINCT product_marked ORDER BY product_marked) FROM result) = ['gadGET', 'gizmo', 'widGET']) THEN 'as expected' ELSE error('the double space was not collapsed in one name, or get was not replaced inside widget and gadget') END AS verdict;
```

It needs nothing installed beyond DuckDB itself.

## What other tools call it

Meridian's classification; an independent blind rating agreed on 95.7% of 324 rows (variant, version 3).

- Duckle: [`Replace (literal)`](https://github.com/slothflowlabs/duckle/blob/f85f8960edfb6efbf4cb89d58a7b32e16df0e867/frontend/src/workflow-ui/palette-data.ts) (read 2026-09-25)
- Apache Hop: [`Replace in String`](https://hop.apache.org/manual/latest/pipeline/transforms/replacestring.html) (read 2026-09-27)
- Apache Hop: [`Token replacement`](https://hop.apache.org/manual/latest/pipeline/transforms/tokenreplacement.html) (read 2026-09-27)
- Ibis: [`StringReplace`](https://github.com/ibis-project/ibis/blob/05d2b293344e86cb41c1a426071734f7e270335a/ibis/expr/operations/strings.py) (read 2026-09-27)
- KNIME Analytics Platform: [`String Replacer`](https://api.hub.knime.com/nodes/*kg6wiYxLaACvn7qm?details=full) (read 2026-09-27)
- OpenRefine: [`Replace…`](https://openrefine.org/docs/manual/cellediting#replace) (read 2026-09-27)
- Pentaho Data Integration: [`Replace in String`](https://docs.pentaho.com/pdia-data-integration/9.3-data-integration/pdi-transformation-steps-reference-overview) (read 2026-09-27)
- Power Query M: [`Replacer functions`](https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/powerquery-m/replacer-functions) (read 2026-09-27)
- Apache SeaTunnel: [`Replace`](https://seatunnel.apache.org/docs/2.3.13/transforms/replace) (read 2026-09-27)
- Trifacta: [`Convert patterns`](https://help.alteryx.com/aac/en/trifacta-classic/reference/transformation-reference.html) (read 2026-09-27)
- Trifacta: [`Replace Transform`](https://help.alteryx.com/aac/en/trifacta-classic/wrangle-language/language-appendices/transforms.html) (read 2026-09-27)
- Trifacta: [`Replace between delimiters`](https://help.alteryx.com/aac/en/trifacta-classic/reference/transformation-reference.html) (read 2026-09-27)
- Trifacta: [`Replace between positions`](https://help.alteryx.com/aac/en/trifacta-classic/reference/transformation-reference.html) (read 2026-09-27)
- Trifacta: [`Replace text or pattern`](https://help.alteryx.com/aac/en/trifacta-classic/reference/transformation-reference.html) (read 2026-09-27)