Split unlimited length SQL String into two columns - sql

Question

I have seen multiple answers, but none that worked for me.
I send in a string like this desc1$100$desc2$200 to a stored procedure.
Then I want to to insert it into a temp table like so:
|descr|meter|
|desc1|100 |
|desc2|200 |
Wanted output ^
declare #string varchar(max)
set #string = 'desc1$100$desc2$200'
declare #table table
(descr varchar(max),
meter int
)
-- Insert statement
-- INSERT NEEDED HERE
-- Test Select
SELECT * FROM #table
How should I split it?

Answer 1

Here's an example using JSON.
Declare #S varchar(max) = 'desc1$100$desc2$200'
Select Descr = max(case when ColNr=0 then Value end )
,Meter = max(case when ColNr=1 then Value end )
From (
Select RowNr = [Key] / 2
,ColNr = [Key] % 2
,Value
From OpenJSON( '["'+replace(string_escape(#S,'json'),'$','","')+'"]' )
) A
Group By RowNr
Results
Descr Meter
desc1 100
desc2 200
If it helps with the visualization, the subquery generates the following:
RowNr ColNr Value
0 0 desc1
0 1 100
1 0 desc2
1 1 200

Answer 2

Please try the following solution based on XML and XQuery.
It allows to get odd vs. even tokens in the input string.
SQL
DECLARE #tbl TABLE (ID INT IDENTITY PRIMARY KEY, descr varchar(max), meter int);
DECLARE #string varchar(max) = 'desc1$100$desc2$200';
DECLARE #separator CHAR(1) = '$';
DECLARE #xmldata XML = TRY_CAST('<root><r><![CDATA[' +
REPLACE(#string, #separator, ']]></r><r><![CDATA[') +
']]></r></root>' AS XML)
INSERT INTO #tbl (descr, meter)
SELECT c.value('(./text())[1]', 'VARCHAR(30)') AS descr
, c.value('(/root/*[sql:column("seq.pos")]/text())[1]', 'INT') AS meter
FROM #xmldata.nodes('/root/*[position() mod 2 = 1]') AS t(c)
CROSS APPLY (SELECT t.c.value('let $n := . return count(/root/*[. << $n[1]]) + 2','INT') AS pos
) AS seq;
-- Test
SELECT * FROM #tbl;
Output
+----+-------+-------+
| ID | descr | meter |
+----+-------+-------+
| 1 | desc1 | 100 |
| 2 | desc2 | 200 |
+----+-------+-------+