How to use one sql parameter to represent input array - sql

Question

Is there a way to write sql for Oracle, MS SQL:
Select * from table where id in(:arr)
Select * from table where id in(#arr)
With one param in sql 'arr' to represent an array of items?
I found examples that explode arr to #arr0,.., #arrn and feed array as n+1 separate parameters, not array, like this
Select * from table where id in(:arr0, :arr1, :arr2)
Select * from table where id in(#arr0, #arr1, #arr2)
Not what i want.
These will cause change in sql query and this creates new execution plans based on number of parameter.
I ask for .net, c# and Oracle and MS SQL.
Thanks for constructive ideas!
/ip/

Answer 1

I believe Table Value Parameter is good option for this case. Have a look at a sample code below in SQL Server.
-- Your table
CREATE TABLE SampleTable
(
ID INT
)
INSERT INTO SampleTable VALUES
(1010),
(2010),
(3010),
(4010),
(5010),
(6010),
(7010),
(8030)
GO
-- Create a TABLE type in SQL database which you can fill from front-end code
CREATE TYPE ParameterTableType AS TABLE
(
ParameterID INT
--, some other columns
)
GO
-- Create a stored proc using table type defined above
CREATE PROCEDURE ParameterArrayProcedure
(
#ParameterTable AS ParameterTableType READONLY
)
AS
BEGIN
SELECT
S.*
FROM SampleTable S
INNER JOIN #ParameterTable P ON S.ID = P.ParameterID
END
GO
-- Populated table type variable
DECLARE #ParameterTable AS ParameterTableType
INSERT INTO #ParameterTable (ParameterID) VALUES (1010), (4010), (7010)
EXECUTE ParameterArrayProcedure #ParameterTable
DROP PROCEDURE ParameterArrayProcedure
DROP TYPE ParameterTableType
DROP TABLE SampleTable
GO
Apart from Table Value Parameter, you can also use Json or XML values as SQL parameter but yes, it will definitely change your execution plan accordingly.

Answer 2

In addition to a Table Valued Parameter as Steve mentioned, there are a couple of other techniques available. For example you can parse a delimited string
Example
Declare #arr varchar(50) = '10,20,35'
Select A.*
From YourTable A
Join string_split(#arr,',') B on A.ID=value
Or even
Select A.*
From YourTable A
Where ID in ( select value from string_split(#arr,',') )

Answer 3

Oracle
In other languages (i.e. Java) you can pass an SQL collection as a bind parameter and directly use it in an SQL statement.
However, C# does not support passing SQL collections and only supports passing OracleCollectionType.PLSQLAssociativeArray (documentation link) which is a PL/SQL only data-type and cannot be used (directly) in SQL statements.
To pass an array, you would need to pass a PLSQLAssociativeArray to a PLSQL stored procedure and use that to convert it to an SQL collection that you can use in an SQL statement. An example of a procedure to convert from a PL/SQL associative array to an SQL collection is:
CREATE TYPE IntList AS TABLE OF INTEGER
/
CREATE PACKAGE tools IS
TYPE IntMap IS TABLE OF INTEGER INDEX BY BINARY_INTEGER;
FUNCTION IntMapToList(
i_map IntMap
) RETURN IntList;
END;
/
CREATE PACKAGE BODY tools IS
FUNCTION IntMapToList(
i_map IntMap
) RETURN IntList
IS
o_list IntList := IntList();
i BINARY_INTEGER;
BEGIN
IF i_map IS NOT NULL THEN
i := o_list.FIRST;
WHILE i IS NOT NULL LOOP
o_list.EXTEND;
o_list( o_list.COUNT ) := i_map( i );
i := i_map.NEXT( i );
END LOOP;
END IF;
RETURN o_list;
END;
END;
/