SQL Function to Split Comma Separated Values and Insert into Table

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SQL Function to Split Comma Separated Values and Insert into Table

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FortyEightK Mr or Mrs. 500 Points: 553 More actions · Answer 1

TurnerC,

Someone will probably point out a much better way of doing this but getting a single column of multiple records into a comma-separated string can be done thusly:

SELECT STUFF((SELECT ',' + CAST(TableName.NumBeds AS varchar) FROM TableName FOR XML PATH('')),1, 2, '') AS CSVColumn

You have to CAST any output fields as strings (as long as they aren't already, I'm presuming your Number of Beds field would be an integer) for it to work.

TurnerC SSC Veteran Points: 290 More actions · Answer 2

Thank you for your reply. I will try it out.

Would you happen to know if there are performance issues with using Coalesce. I read an article on how to creat a csv file using Coalesce. I am just unsure about the performance side.

Thank you

FortyEightK Mr or Mrs. 500 Points: 553 More actions · Answer 3

Would the COALESCE be this sort of query?:

DECLARE @EmployeeList varchar(100)

SELECT @EmployeeList = COALESCE(@EmployeeList + ', ', '') + CAST(Emp_UniqueID AS varchar(5))

FROM SalesCallsEmployees

WHERE SalCal_UniqueID = 1

SELECT @EmployeeList

In my experience COALESCE can be a bit of a performance hit. Certainly the above on one of my database columns (varchar(255)) with 22,000+ records the above is about 3-4 times slower than the STUFF...XML method.

Jeff Moden SSC Guru Points: 1004339 More actions · Answer 4

WayneS (12/1/2010)
chris-860960 (11/30/2010)
Just switched to WayneS' non-RBAR function. Now that's FAST!
It's not "my" function - it comes from Jeff Moden. It's just what is in use around here, with little tweaks here and there to make it as fast as it possible can be.

Thanks for the kudo but it's not my original idea, either. It's an assembly of good practice from many authors with many lessons learned. Many others have have put together similar functions.

--Jeff Moden

RBAR is pronounced "ree-bar" and is a "Modenism" for Row-By-Agonizing-Row.
First step towards the paradigm shift of writing Set Based code:
________Stop thinking about what you want to do to a ROW... think, instead, of what you want to do to a COLUMN.

Change is inevitable... Change for the better is not.

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