Escaping a backslash in a parameter does not work as expected when regular expression is used in custom SQL in Google BigQuery.
For example:
-Sample data [Table]:
Columnaaa.
-Custom SQL:select * from Table where regexp_contains(Column,r<parameter>)
-Parameter:a\.
-Expected result:
Columna.
-Actual result:No record returned
*If set parameter as 'a.' without escaping backslash, then the result will be
Columnaaa.
Cause
This is due to the regular expression syntax used In Google BigQuery as shown below:
REGEXP_CONTAINS(sample, r"@[a-zA-Z0-9-]+\.[a-zA-Z0-9-.]+")
https://cloud.google.com/bigquery/docs/reference/standard-sql/functions-and-operators#regexp_contains
Please note there is a 'r' in front of the regular expression.
However, when using a parameter to set regular expression, escaping backslash is not working as expected.
If remove the 'r', then escaping backslash is working as expected.
Change the Custom SQL
---------------------select * from Table where regexp_contains(Column,r<parameter>)
---------------------
To
---------------------select * from Table where regexp_contains(Column,<parameter>)
---------------------
*Remove 'r'
001474430

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