sql server - sql like operator to get the numbers only

Question

This is I think a simple problem but not getting the solution yet. I would like to get the valid numbers only from a column as explained here.

Lets say we have a varchar column with following values

ABC
Italy
Apple
234.62
2:234:43:22
France
6435.23
2
Lions

Here the problem is to select numbers only

select * from tbl where answer like '%[0-9]%' would have done it but it returns

    234.62
    2:234:43:22
    6435.23
    2

Here, obviously, 2:234:43:22 is not desired as it is not valid number.

The desired result is

        234.62
        6435.23
        2

Is there a way to do this?

Answer 1

You can use the following to only include valid characters:

SQL

SELECT * FROM @Table
WHERE Col NOT LIKE '%[^0-9.]%'

Results

Col
---------
234.62
6435.23
2