Related
I need to update the url stored in a column.
My columns have values like this:
https://www.site.sharepoint.com/sites/test/AB-19-CALL
I want to update this URL to:
https://www.site.sharepoint.com/sites/test/CALL-AB-19
To get the last part which is AB-19-CALL, I used the below query
SELECT
SUBSTRING(urlcompte, LEN(urlcompte) - CHARINDEX('/', REVERSE(urlcompte)) + 2, LEN(urlcompte)),
UrlCompte
FROM
tblAccount
Now to split and reverse the AB-19-call I would again need to use the entire query above and then select substring using -
Is there an easier way to do this?
In C# we can do something like this:
urlCompte.Split('-')[2] + urlCompte.Split('-')[0] + urlCompte.Split('-')[1]
Is there a way in SQL Server to split the column and access different parts of it?
This would work to split the string parts -
DECLARE #txt NVARCHAR(500)= 'https://www.site.sharepoint.com/sites/test/AB-19-CALL';
SELECT value
FROM STRING_SPLIT(REVERSE(SUBSTRING(REVERSE(#txt), 1, CHARINDEX('/', REVERSE(#txt))-1)), '-');(substring(reverse(#txt),1,charindex('/',reverse(#txt))-1)),'-')
If you are so lucky to be using SQL Server 2017 you can use for string_agg function for concatenating splitted string pieced with SQL string_split function
Here is the script to change the order of last part in your url
declare #url varchar(100) = 'CALL-AB-19'
select
string_agg(value,'-') within group (order by rn desc)
from (
select
value, row_number() over (order by #url) as rn
from STRING_SPLIT( #url , '-' )
) t
If you want to apply this solution as a set based solution on your table rows with a single SELECT statement, you can execute following SQL
select
id, string_agg(value,'-') within group (order by rn desc)
from (
select
id, value, row_number() over (partition by id order by url) as rn
from urlList
cross apply STRING_SPLIT( url , '-' )
) t
group by id
I assume, in your table urlList, you have a PK field id
If you don't use SQL Server 2016 for split function and SQL Server 2017 for string aggregate function, you can search the web for split string function samples. And using FOR XML Path to concatenate string parts, you can build a solution with the help of CTE expression as follows
;with cte as (
select
urlList.id,
urlList.url,
s.id sid,
s.val
from urlList
cross apply dbo.split(url,'-' ) s
)
SELECT
distinct
id,
STUFF(
(
SELECT
'-' + u.val
FROM cte as u
where u.id = cte.id
Order By sid desc
FOR XML PATH('')
), 1, 1, ''
) As newurl
FROM cte
Please note that the referred split function returns an id named numeric field which shows the order of the splitted piece. So while concatenating I use an "order by" clause on the same field this time in descending order
If someone is using SQL server 2012 or older version then it can be possible by this way:
DECLARE #URL VARCHAR(100) = 'https://www.site.sharepoint.com/sites/test/AB-19-CALL'
SELECT TOP 1 dbo.[Reversedata](DATA, '-')
FROM (SELECT * FROM dbo.Splitter(#URL, '/') as t) as tt order by Id desc
In above code I have used two functions:
1) Splitter : To split the string (https://ole.michelsen.dk/blog/split-string-to-table-using-transact-sql.html)
2) Reversedata: To reverse the data (http://picnicerror.net/development/sql-server/reverse-order-words-string-sql-server-2012-01-16/)
Splitter:
CREATE FUNCTION [dbo].[Splitter]
(
#String NVARCHAR(4000),
#Delimiter NCHAR(1)
)
RETURNS TABLE
AS
RETURN
(
WITH Split(stpos,endpos)
AS(
SELECT 0 AS stpos, CHARINDEX(#Delimiter,#String) AS endpos
UNION ALL
SELECT endpos+1, CHARINDEX(#Delimiter,#String,endpos+1)
FROM Split
WHERE endpos > 0
)
SELECT 'Id' = ROW_NUMBER() OVER (ORDER BY (SELECT 1)),
'Data' = SUBSTRING(#String,stpos,COALESCE(NULLIF(endpos,0),LEN(#String)+1)-stpos)
FROM Split
)
GO
Reverse:
CREATE FUNCTION [dbo].[udf_ReverseSequenceOrder] (
#Input nvarchar(200)
,#Delimiter nvarchar(5)
)
RETURNS nvarchar(200)
AS
BEGIN
DECLARE #Output nvarchar(200)
WHILE LEN(#Input) > 0
BEGIN
IF CHARINDEX(#Delimiter, #Input) > 0
BEGIN
SET #Output = SUBSTRING(#Input,0,CHARINDEX(#Delimiter, #Input)) + #Delimiter + ISNULL(#Output,'')
SET #Input = SUBSTRING(#Input,CHARINDEX(#Delimiter, #Input)+1,LEN(#Input))
END
ELSE
BEGIN
SET #Output = #Input + #Delimiter + ISNULL(#Output,'')
SET #Input = ''
END
END
RETURN SUBSTRING(#Output,0,LEN(#Output))
END
Well, this is the xml based solution. For SQL Server 2008 and above.
DECLARE #url VARCHAR(100) = 'AB-19-CALL'
SELECT MyUrl FROM
(
SELECT CAST('<Url><Part>' + REPLACE(#url,'-','</Part><Part>') + '</Part></Url>' AS XML) AS my_Xml
) t1
CROSS APPLY
(
SELECT
my_Data.D.value('Part[3]','varchar(50)') + '-' +
my_Data.D.value('Part[1]','varchar(50)') + '-' +
my_Data.D.value('Part[2]','varchar(50)') AS MyUrl
FROM t1.my_Xml.nodes('/Url') as my_Data(D)
) t2
Result
MyUrl
----------
CALL-AB-19
Is that a way to search array by using SQL?
SELECT Top 1 IVDTL.YourPONo
FROM IV
INNER JOIN IVDTL
ON IV.DOCKEY = IVDTL.DOCKEY
WHERE DocNo = /*array[0]*/
Any one have idea?
For Mysql you can use FIND_IN_SET
SELECT Top 1 IVDTL.YourPONo
from IV
INNER JOIN IVDTL
ON IV.DOCKEY = IVDTL.DOCKEY
WHERE FIND_IN_SET(DocNo ,'array[0]') > 0
Update :
For SQL SERVER
You need a split string function and split the values in array to individual rows. Then it can be used in IN clause
For SQL SERVER 2016
you can use STRING_SPLIT function
SELECT Top 1 IVDTL.YourPONo
FROM IV
INNER JOIN IVDTL
ON IV.DOCKEY = IVDTL.DOCKEY
WHERE DocNo in (select value from STRING_SPLIT('array[0]',',')
For any thing less than SQL SERVER 2016
use any one of the methods from below excellent article Split strings the right way – or the next best way
Here is one way using XML
CREATE FUNCTION dbo.SplitStrings_XML
(
#List NVARCHAR(MAX),
#Delimiter NVARCHAR(255)
)
RETURNS TABLE
WITH SCHEMABINDING
AS
RETURN
(
SELECT Item = y.i.value('(./text())[1]', 'nvarchar(4000)')
FROM
(
SELECT x = CONVERT(XML, '<i>'
+ REPLACE(#List, #Delimiter, '</i><i>')
+ '</i>').query('.')
) AS a CROSS APPLY x.nodes('i') AS y(i)
);
After creating the function use the function in your query
SELECT Top 1 IVDTL.YourPONo
FROM IV
INNER JOIN IVDTL
ON IV.DOCKEY = IVDTL.DOCKEY
WHERE DocNo in (select value from SplitStrings_XML('array[0]',',')
from table I retrieves values, for example,
7752652:1,7752653:2,7752654:3,7752655:4
or
7752941:1,7752942:2
i.e. string may contain any quantity of substrings.
What I need: remove all occurrences of characters from char ':' to a comma char.
For example,
7752652:1,7752653:2,7752654:3,7752655:4
should be
7752652,7752653,7752654,7752655
How do it?
Replace : with start tag <X>.
Replace , with end tag </X> and an extra comma.
Add an extra end tag to the end </X>.
That will give you a string that look like 7752941<X>1</X>,7752942<X>2</X>.
Cast to XML and use query(text()) to get the root text values.
Cast the result back to string.
SQL Fiddle
MS SQL Server 2012 Schema Setup:
create table T
(
C varchar(100)
)
insert into T values
('7752652:1,7752653:2,7752654:3,7752655:4'),
('7752941:1,7752942:2')
Query 1:
select cast(cast(replace(replace(T.C, ':', '<X>'), ',', '</X>,')+'</X>' as xml).query('text()') as varchar(100)) as C
from T
Results:
| C |
|---------------------------------|
| 7752652,7752653,7752654,7752655 |
| 7752941,7752942 |
declare #query varchar(8000)
select #query= 'select '+ replace (
replace('7752652:1,7752653:2,7752654:3,7752655:4',',',' t union all select ')
,':',' t1 , ')
exec(';with cte as ( '+#query+' ) select cast(t1 as varchar)+'','' from cte for xml path('''')')
Try this:
DECLARE #Data VARCHAR(100) = '7752652:1,7752653:2,7752654:3,7752655:4'
DECLARE #Output VARCHAR(100) = ''
WHILE CHARINDEX(':', #Data) > 0
BEGIN
IF LEN(#Output) > 0 SET #Output = #Output + ','
SET #Output = #Output + LEFT(#Data, CHARINDEX(':', #Data)-1)
SET #Data = STUFF(#Data,
1,
(CASE CHARINDEX(',', #Data)
WHEN 0 THEN LEN(#Data)
ELSE CHARINDEX(',', #Data)
END) - CHARINDEX(':', #Data),
'')
END
SELECT #Output AS Result -- 7752652,7752653,7752654,7752655
Hope this will help.
I borrowed the Splitter function from here. You could use any delimiter parser you may already be using.
Parse the string to table values
Used Substring function to remove values after ':'
Use For xml to re-generate CSV
Test Data:'
IF OBJECT_ID(N'tempdb..#temp')>0
DROP TABLE #temp
CREATE TABLE #temp (id int, StringCSV VARCHAR(500))
INSERT INTO #temp VALUES ('1','7752652:1,7752653:2,7752654:3,7752655:4')
INSERT INTO #temp VALUES ('2','7752656:1,7752657:3,7752658:4')
INSERT INTO #temp VALUES ('3','7752659:1,7752660:2')
SELECT * FROM #temp t
Main Query:
;WITH cte_Remove(ID, REMOVE) AS
(
SELECT y.id AS ID,
SUBSTRING(fn.string, 1, CHARINDEX(':', fn.string) -1) AS Removed
FROM #temp AS y
CROSS APPLY dbo.fnParseStringTSQL(y.StringCSV, ',') AS fn
)
SELECT DISTINCT ID,
STUFF(
(
SELECT ',' + REMOVE
FROM cte_Remove AS t2
WHERE t2.ID = t1.ID
FOR XML PATH('')
),1,1,'') AS col2
FROM cte_Remove AS t1
Cleanup Test Data:
IF OBJECT_ID(N'tempdb..#temp') > 0
DROP TABLE #temp
I solved this problem with CLR function. It is more quickly and function can be used in complex queries
public static SqlString fnRemoveSuffics(SqlString source)
{
string pattern = #":(\d+)";
string replacement = "";
string result = Regex.Replace(source.Value, pattern, replacement);
return new SqlString(result);
}
I created a User-Defined Table Type:
CREATE TYPE dbo.ListTableType AS TABLE(
ITEM varchar(500) NULL
)
I leverage it in a function:
CREATE FUNCTION dbo.fn_list_to_string
(
#LIST dbo.ListTableType READONLY
)
RETURNS varchar(max)
AS
BEGIN
DECLARE #RESULT varchar(max)
SET #RESULT = ''
DECLARE #NL AS CHAR(2) = CHAR(13) + CHAR(10)
SELECT #RESULT = #RESULT + ITEM + #NL FROM #LIST
SET #RESULT = SUBSTRING(#RESULT, 1, LEN(#RESULT) - 1)
RETURN #RESULT
END
Finally, I try to use this function in a simple select:
SELECT
P.PROGRAM_ID,
PROGRAM_NAME,
PROGRAM_DESC,
P.STATUS_ID,
STATUS_DESC,
P.CONTACT_SID,
I.FIRST_NAME + ' ' + I.LAST_NAME as CONTACT_NAME,
P.CLARITY_ID,
dbo.fn_list_to_string(
( SELECT CONVERT(varchar,CLARITY_ID) as ITEM
FROM dbo.MUSEUM_PROGRAM_PROJECTS as A
JOIN dbo.MUSEUM_PROJECTS as B on B.PROJECT_ID = A.PROJECT_ID
WHERE PROGRAM_ID = P.PROGRAM_ID )
) as PROJECT_CLARITY_IDS
FROM dbo.MUSEUM_PROGRAMS as P
LEFT JOIN dbo.MUSEUM_PROGRAM_STATUS_TYPES as S on S.STATUS_ID = P.STATUS_ID
LEFT JOIN dbo.v_IDVAULT_ENRICHED_CURRENT_EMPLOYEES as I on I.[SID] = P.CONTACT_SID
But I get this error:
Operand type clash: varchar is incompatible with ListTableType
Any idea why? Also if there's another [more elegant] way to achieve what I'm trying to do I'm open to suggestions as well! Thanks in advance!
Here is a simple demonstration of the FOR XML PATH technique which does all of this with a very simple subquery and no table types or extremely inefficient multi-statement table-valued functions etc.
USE tempdb;
GO
CREATE TABLE dbo.P(Program_ID INT);
CREATE TABLE dbo.M(Clarity_ID INT, Program_ID INT);
INSERT dbo.P VALUES(1),(2),(3),(4);
INSERT dbo.M VALUES(1,1),(1,2),(2,3),(3,2),(1,4),(4,1);
SELECT
P.PROGRAM_ID,
PROJECT_CLARITY_IDS = STUFF((
SELECT CHAR(13)+CHAR(10)+CONVERT(VARCHAR(12),Clarity_ID)
FROM dbo.M WHERE Program_ID = p.Program_ID
FOR XML PATH(''), TYPE).value('.[1]','nvarchar(max)'),1,2,'')
FROM dbo.P AS p;
SQLfiddle demo
The output doesn't look right in SQLfiddle or in results to grid in Management Studio, because they strip out carriage returns/line feeds for display purposes, but you can replace CHAR(13)+CHAR(10) with two commas or semi-colons or something to verify that there are two characters there.
Using STUFF..FOR XML PATH construct for concatanation in combination with CTE will get the results you'd like. Something like this:
WITH CTE_PROJECT_CLARITIES AS
(
SELECT DISTINCT PROGRAM_ID
, STUFF((
SELECT CHAR(13) + CHAR(10) + CONVERT(varchar(11),CLARITY_ID)
FROM dbo.MUSEUM_PROGRAM_PROJECTS as A
JOIN dbo.MUSEUM_PROJECTS as B on B.PROJECT_ID = A.PROJECT_ID
WHERE A.PROGRAM_ID = X.PROGRAM_ID
FOR XML PATH ('')),1,2,'') AS PROJECT_CLARITY_IDS
FROM MUSEUM_PROGRAM_PROJECTS X
)
SELECT
P.PROGRAM_ID,
PROGRAM_NAME,
PROGRAM_DESC,
P.STATUS_ID,
STATUS_DESC,
P.CONTACT_SID,
I.FIRST_NAME + ' ' + I.LAST_NAME as CONTACT_NAME,
P.CLARITY_ID,
X.PROJECT_CLARITY_IDS
FROM dbo.MUSEUM_PROGRAMS as P
LEFT JOIN dbo.MUSEUM_PROGRAM_STATUS_TYPES as S on S.STATUS_ID = P.STATUS_ID
LEFT JOIN dbo.v_IDVAULT_ENRICHED_CURRENT_EMPLOYEES as I on I.[SID] = P.CONTACT_SID
LEFT JOIN CTE_PROJECT_CLARITIES X ON X.PROGRAM_ID = p.PROGRAM_ID
SQLFiddle DEMO (not sure if I got the columns right, but you'll get the idea)
This question already has answers here:
How to concatenate text from multiple rows into a single text string in SQL Server
(47 answers)
Closed 5 years ago.
To illustrate, assume that I have two tables as follows:
VehicleID Name
1 Chuck
2 Larry
LocationID VehicleID City
1 1 New York
2 1 Seattle
3 1 Vancouver
4 2 Los Angeles
5 2 Houston
I want to write a query to return the following results:
VehicleID Name Locations
1 Chuck New York, Seattle, Vancouver
2 Larry Los Angeles, Houston
I know that this can be done using server side cursors, ie:
DECLARE #VehicleID int
DECLARE #VehicleName varchar(100)
DECLARE #LocationCity varchar(100)
DECLARE #Locations varchar(4000)
DECLARE #Results TABLE
(
VehicleID int
Name varchar(100)
Locations varchar(4000)
)
DECLARE VehiclesCursor CURSOR FOR
SELECT
[VehicleID]
, [Name]
FROM [Vehicles]
OPEN VehiclesCursor
FETCH NEXT FROM VehiclesCursor INTO
#VehicleID
, #VehicleName
WHILE ##FETCH_STATUS = 0
BEGIN
SET #Locations = ''
DECLARE LocationsCursor CURSOR FOR
SELECT
[City]
FROM [Locations]
WHERE [VehicleID] = #VehicleID
OPEN LocationsCursor
FETCH NEXT FROM LocationsCursor INTO
#LocationCity
WHILE ##FETCH_STATUS = 0
BEGIN
SET #Locations = #Locations + #LocationCity
FETCH NEXT FROM LocationsCursor INTO
#LocationCity
END
CLOSE LocationsCursor
DEALLOCATE LocationsCursor
INSERT INTO #Results (VehicleID, Name, Locations) SELECT #VehicleID, #Name, #Locations
END
CLOSE VehiclesCursor
DEALLOCATE VehiclesCursor
SELECT * FROM #Results
However, as you can see, this requires a great deal of code. What I would like is a generic function that would allow me to do something like this:
SELECT VehicleID
, Name
, JOIN(SELECT City FROM Locations WHERE VehicleID = Vehicles.VehicleID, ', ') AS Locations
FROM Vehicles
Is this possible? Or something similar?
If you're using SQL Server 2005, you could use the FOR XML PATH command.
SELECT [VehicleID]
, [Name]
, (STUFF((SELECT CAST(', ' + [City] AS VARCHAR(MAX))
FROM [Location]
WHERE (VehicleID = Vehicle.VehicleID)
FOR XML PATH ('')), 1, 2, '')) AS Locations
FROM [Vehicle]
It's a lot easier than using a cursor, and seems to work fairly well.
Update
For anyone still using this method with newer versions of SQL Server, there is another way of doing it which is a bit easier and more performant using the
STRING_AGG method that has been available since SQL Server 2017.
SELECT [VehicleID]
,[Name]
,(SELECT STRING_AGG([City], ', ')
FROM [Location]
WHERE VehicleID = V.VehicleID) AS Locations
FROM [Vehicle] V
This also allows a different separator to be specified as the second parameter, providing a little more flexibility over the former method.
Note that Matt's code will result in an extra comma at the end of the string; using COALESCE (or ISNULL for that matter) as shown in the link in Lance's post uses a similar method but doesn't leave you with an extra comma to remove. For the sake of completeness, here's the relevant code from Lance's link on sqlteam.com:
DECLARE #EmployeeList varchar(100)
SELECT #EmployeeList = COALESCE(#EmployeeList + ', ', '') +
CAST(EmpUniqueID AS varchar(5))
FROM SalesCallsEmployees
WHERE SalCal_UniqueID = 1
I don't belive there's a way to do it within one query, but you can play tricks like this with a temporary variable:
declare #s varchar(max)
set #s = ''
select #s = #s + City + ',' from Locations
select #s
It's definitely less code than walking over a cursor, and probably more efficient.
In a single SQL query, without using the FOR XML clause.
A Common Table Expression is used to recursively concatenate the results.
-- rank locations by incrementing lexicographical order
WITH RankedLocations AS (
SELECT
VehicleID,
City,
ROW_NUMBER() OVER (
PARTITION BY VehicleID
ORDER BY City
) Rank
FROM
Locations
),
-- concatenate locations using a recursive query
-- (Common Table Expression)
Concatenations AS (
-- for each vehicle, select the first location
SELECT
VehicleID,
CONVERT(nvarchar(MAX), City) Cities,
Rank
FROM
RankedLocations
WHERE
Rank = 1
-- then incrementally concatenate with the next location
-- this will return intermediate concatenations that will be
-- filtered out later on
UNION ALL
SELECT
c.VehicleID,
(c.Cities + ', ' + l.City) Cities,
l.Rank
FROM
Concatenations c -- this is a recursion!
INNER JOIN RankedLocations l ON
l.VehicleID = c.VehicleID
AND l.Rank = c.Rank + 1
),
-- rank concatenation results by decrementing length
-- (rank 1 will always be for the longest concatenation)
RankedConcatenations AS (
SELECT
VehicleID,
Cities,
ROW_NUMBER() OVER (
PARTITION BY VehicleID
ORDER BY Rank DESC
) Rank
FROM
Concatenations
)
-- main query
SELECT
v.VehicleID,
v.Name,
c.Cities
FROM
Vehicles v
INNER JOIN RankedConcatenations c ON
c.VehicleID = v.VehicleID
AND c.Rank = 1
From what I can see FOR XML (as posted earlier) is the only way to do it if you want to also select other columns (which I'd guess most would) as the OP does.
Using COALESCE(#var... does not allow inclusion of other columns.
Update:
Thanks to programmingsolutions.net there is a way to remove the "trailing" comma to.
By making it into a leading comma and using the STUFF function of MSSQL you can replace the first character (leading comma) with an empty string as below:
stuff(
(select ',' + Column
from Table
inner where inner.Id = outer.Id
for xml path('')
), 1,1,'') as Values
In SQL Server 2005
SELECT Stuff(
(SELECT N', ' + Name FROM Names FOR XML PATH(''),TYPE)
.value('text()[1]','nvarchar(max)'),1,2,N'')
In SQL Server 2016
you can use the FOR JSON syntax
i.e.
SELECT per.ID,
Emails = JSON_VALUE(
REPLACE(
(SELECT _ = em.Email FROM Email em WHERE em.Person = per.ID FOR JSON PATH)
,'"},{"_":"',', '),'$[0]._'
)
FROM Person per
And the result will become
Id Emails
1 abc#gmail.com
2 NULL
3 def#gmail.com, xyz#gmail.com
This will work even your data contains invalid XML characters
the '"},{"":"' is safe because if you data contain '"},{"":"', it will be escaped to "},{\"_\":\"
You can replace ', ' with any string separator
And in SQL Server 2017, Azure SQL Database
You can use the new STRING_AGG function
The below code will work for Sql Server 2000/2005/2008
CREATE FUNCTION fnConcatVehicleCities(#VehicleId SMALLINT)
RETURNS VARCHAR(1000) AS
BEGIN
DECLARE #csvCities VARCHAR(1000)
SELECT #csvCities = COALESCE(#csvCities + ', ', '') + COALESCE(City,'')
FROM Vehicles
WHERE VehicleId = #VehicleId
return #csvCities
END
-- //Once the User defined function is created then run the below sql
SELECT VehicleID
, dbo.fnConcatVehicleCities(VehicleId) AS Locations
FROM Vehicles
GROUP BY VehicleID
I've found a solution by creating the following function:
CREATE FUNCTION [dbo].[JoinTexts]
(
#delimiter VARCHAR(20) ,
#whereClause VARCHAR(1)
)
RETURNS VARCHAR(MAX)
AS
BEGIN
DECLARE #Texts VARCHAR(MAX)
SELECT #Texts = COALESCE(#Texts + #delimiter, '') + T.Texto
FROM SomeTable AS T
WHERE T.SomeOtherColumn = #whereClause
RETURN #Texts
END
GO
Usage:
SELECT dbo.JoinTexts(' , ', 'Y')
Mun's answer didn't work for me so I made some changes to that answer to get it to work. Hope this helps someone.
Using SQL Server 2012:
SELECT [VehicleID]
, [Name]
, STUFF((SELECT DISTINCT ',' + CONVERT(VARCHAR,City)
FROM [Location]
WHERE (VehicleID = Vehicle.VehicleID)
FOR XML PATH ('')), 1, 2, '') AS Locations
FROM [Vehicle]
VERSION NOTE: You must be using SQL Server 2005 or greater with Compatibility Level set to 90 or greater for this solution.
See this MSDN article for the first example of creating a user-defined aggregate function that concatenates a set of string values taken from a column in a table.
My humble recommendation would be to leave out the appended comma so you can use your own ad-hoc delimiter, if any.
Referring to the C# version of Example 1:
change: this.intermediateResult.Append(value.Value).Append(',');
to: this.intermediateResult.Append(value.Value);
And
change: output = this.intermediateResult.ToString(0, this.intermediateResult.Length - 1);
to: output = this.intermediateResult.ToString();
That way when you use your custom aggregate, you can opt to use your own delimiter, or none at all, such as:
SELECT dbo.CONCATENATE(column1 + '|') from table1
NOTE: Be careful about the amount of the data you attempt to process in your aggregate. If you try to concatenate thousands of rows or many very large datatypes you may get a .NET Framework error stating "[t]he buffer is insufficient."
With the other answers, the person reading the answer must be aware of the vehicle table and create the vehicle table and data to test a solution.
Below is an example that uses SQL Server "Information_Schema.Columns" table. By using this solution, no tables need to be created or data added. This example creates a comma separated list of column names for all tables in the database.
SELECT
Table_Name
,STUFF((
SELECT ',' + Column_Name
FROM INFORMATION_SCHEMA.Columns Columns
WHERE Tables.Table_Name = Columns.Table_Name
ORDER BY Column_Name
FOR XML PATH ('')), 1, 1, ''
)Columns
FROM INFORMATION_SCHEMA.Columns Tables
GROUP BY TABLE_NAME
Try this query
SELECT v.VehicleId, v.Name, ll.LocationList
FROM Vehicles v
LEFT JOIN
(SELECT
DISTINCT
VehicleId,
REPLACE(
REPLACE(
REPLACE(
(
SELECT City as c
FROM Locations x
WHERE x.VehicleID = l.VehicleID FOR XML PATH('')
),
'</c><c>',', '
),
'<c>',''
),
'</c>', ''
) AS LocationList
FROM Locations l
) ll ON ll.VehicleId = v.VehicleId
If you're running SQL Server 2005, you can write a custom CLR aggregate function to handle this.
C# version:
using System;
using System.Data;
using System.Data.SqlClient;
using System.Data.SqlTypes;
using System.Text;
using Microsoft.SqlServer.Server;
[Serializable]
[Microsoft.SqlServer.Server.SqlUserDefinedAggregate(Format.UserDefined,MaxByteSize=8000)]
public class CSV:IBinarySerialize
{
private StringBuilder Result;
public void Init() {
this.Result = new StringBuilder();
}
public void Accumulate(SqlString Value) {
if (Value.IsNull) return;
this.Result.Append(Value.Value).Append(",");
}
public void Merge(CSV Group) {
this.Result.Append(Group.Result);
}
public SqlString Terminate() {
return new SqlString(this.Result.ToString());
}
public void Read(System.IO.BinaryReader r) {
this.Result = new StringBuilder(r.ReadString());
}
public void Write(System.IO.BinaryWriter w) {
w.Write(this.Result.ToString());
}
}