DELIMITER // CREATE FUNCTION stripChars(theString varchar(255), blackList varchar(255)) RETURNS varchar(255) DETERMINISTIC BEGIN DECLARE i INT DEFAULT 1; DECLARE response VARCHAR(255) DEFAULT ''; DECLARE theChar CHAR(1); WHILE i <= CHAR_LENGTH(theString) DO SET theChar := SUBSTRING(theString, i, 1); IF LOCATE(theChar, blackList) = 0 THEN SET response := CONCAT(response, theChar); END IF; SET i := i + 1; END WHILE; RETURN response; END// DELIMITER ;