Get pick list from XML data file

• Giorgio Vidali

  Ten Centuries

  Points: 1116

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  December 17, 2015 at 7:03 am

  #1846563

  Alan,

  Thanks so much for the perfect solution you have provided. Works like a charm and will save us from having to write application code for the specific purpose.

  One final thing I'd like to ask is.... considering that I will have to get more and more familiar with XML data... what is the best resource to understand and learn how to query XML data... and what techniques to use and when and why...

  Again... thanks so much for the help.

• Alan Burstein

  SSC Guru

  Points: 61141

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  December 17, 2015 at 11:22 am

  #1846634

  Giorgio Vidali (12/17/2015)

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  One final thing I'd like to ask is.... considering that I will have to get more and more familiar with XML data... what is the best resource to understand and learn how to query XML data... and what techniques to use and when and why...

  Glad that worked for you and glad to help:

  As for resources:

  SQLServerCentral is the best place for questions, you have people like Eirikur and myself that enjoy helping people with XML.

  For a great Into to XML see:

  W3Schools.com is a great beginner resource.

  Pay special attention to the section about XPath.

  A great resource here on SSC is also Robert Sheldon's Stairway to XML[/url].

  For parsing XML inside SQL Server see xml Data Type Methods on msdn.microsoft.com

  There's also Robert Sheldon's article on Simple-Talk: The XML Methods in SQL Server[/url].

  "I cant stress enough the importance of switching from a sequential files mindset to set-based thinking. After you make the switch, you can spend your time tuning and optimizing your queries instead of maintaining lengthy, poor-performing code."

  -- Itzik Ben-Gan 2001