You can use CHARINDEX() or PATINDEX() functions as a starting point. See BOL for details.

>Hi All,
>
>I want to search a specific value and find out the number before – in a varchar column
>
>The values are :

>ProjectNo	          Notes
>12		1-Ashish,4-Jain,1-Keith
>44		4-ABC,6-Ashish,8-CCC,6-SSS
>45		5-AAA,8-SSS,8-Keith,11-Ashish

>I want to return the values
>1
>6
>11
>for different project number when I search for string “Ashish” in Notes column.
>
>Thanks
>…ashish