How to Correctly Insert Newlines into nvarchar Strings in SQL Server?

Correct Newline Insertion in nvarchar Strings

When working with rich text in SQL Server and encountering the need to convert it to plain text, a common task is to replace HTML line breaks (
) with newlines. However, simply using the REPLACE function can result in line breaks not being inserted properly.

The Issue:

In the given example, the issue arises due to the encoding of the newline characters. The REPLACE function expects the parameters to be of nvarchar data type, which supports Unicode characters. ASCII newline characters (carriage return and line feed, represented as CHAR(13) and CHAR(10), respectively) cannot be directly inserted into an nvarchar string without being converted to Unicode.

The Solution:

To resolve this, the Unicode representations of the newline characters should be used instead:

NCHAR(13) and NCHAR(10) represent Unicode carriage return and line feed characters, respectively. Using these Unicode characters ensures that the newlines are correctly inserted into the nvarchar string.

Additional Considerations:

• SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS) Options: Ensure that the "Retain CR/LF on copy or Save" option is enabled in SQL Server Management Studio's Options menu (Tools -> Options). This option preserves line breaks when copying or saving results to a grid or file.
• Database Compatibility: Unicode support in SQL Server varies with database compatibility levels. Ensure that your database is set to a compatibility level that supports Unicode, such as SQL Server 2012 onwards.

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