Data
Approval_ID
-----------
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
Query
DECLARE
#id varchar(8000)
SELECT #id = COALESCE(#id + ', ', '') + '[' + Approval_ID + ']'
FROM (
SELECT DISTINCT Approval_ID
FROM Gate_III_CS_Approval
) Y
Result always
1,10,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9
I've tried to add Order By
ORDER BY len(Approval_ID), Approval_ID
but have error
The ORDER BY clause is invalid in views, inline functions, derived
tables, subqueries, and common table expressions, unless TOP, OFFSET
or FOR XML is also specified.
and I want to the result like this
1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10
Whats should I do?
Update :
;with cte as (
SELECT DISTINCT Approval_ID
FROM Gate_III_CS_Approval
)
SELECT #id = STUFF(
(SELECT concat(',', '[' + Approval_ID + ']')
FROM cte ORDER BY len(Approval_ID), Approval_id
FOR XML PATH('')
), 1, 1, '')
Using CTE and STUFF for XML PATH
-- replace CTE with your table, this is only an example
declare #id varchar(8000)
;with cte as (
select 1 n
union all
select n+1 n from
cte
where n < 10
)
select #id =
STUFF((
SELECT concat(',', n)
FROM cte
order by n
FOR XML PATH('')
), 1, 1, '')
select #id
programmatically cast n from alphanumeric to int for sorting
It seems you are using a varchar field instead of an integer for Approval_ID.
For ordering it based on the varchar field, you can try the method from maSTAShuFu's answer.
Here I am updating it with your query from question.
SELECT STUFF(
(SELECT CONCAT(',[', Approval_ID,']')
FROM <your_table>
ORDER BY cast(Approval_ID as int)
FOR XML PATH('')), 1, 1, '')
Maybe you can try to convert varchar to int for this purpose. I built an example here
DECLARE
#id varchar(8000)
SELECT #id = COALESCE(#id + ', ', '') + '[' + CAST(ID AS VARCHAR(10)) + ']'
FROM (
SELECT DISTINCT CAST(id AS INT) ID
FROM TABLA
) Y
SELECT #ID
Related
Well, I have a number which stored in a column. If I want to divide the value, I just need:
select columnName / 12 from myTable
Is it possible to put the result into 12 column? I want to make the 12 is flexible. So for instance, if I divide the value by 4, so the result should be 4 column.
Value Result1 Result2 Result3 Result4
12000 3000 3000 3000 3000
Does anyone know how to achieve this?
Thank you.
This achievable using dynamic query.
declare #cols nvarchar(max);
declare #sql nvarchar(1000);
with cte as (
select 12000 as col1, 12000/4 as col2
union all
select col1-col2, col2 from cte where col1 > col2
)
select #cols =
STUFF((select N',' + QUOTENAME(col2) from cte
FOR XML PATH('')
), 1, 1, '') + N'';
select #cols
You can avoid dynamic SQL if you know a maximum count:
Start with a mockup-table to simulate your issue
DECLARE #tbl TABLE(InitialValue DECIMAL(16,4));
INSERT INTO #tbl VALUES(12000),(20000),(10000);
--To test this I use a divisor of 4, try with other numbers
DECLARE #divisor DECIMAL(16,4)=4;
--This is the query
SELECT p.*
FROM
(
SELECT t.InitialValue / #divisor As DivResult
,t.InitialValue
,CONCAT('div',FORMAT(A.Nmbr,'00')) AS ColumnName
FROM #tbl t
CROSS APPLY(SELECT TOP(CAST(#divisor AS INT)) ROW_NUMBER() OVER(ORDER BY (SELECT NULL)) FROM master..spt_values) A(Nmbr)
) t
PIVOT
(MAX(DivResult) FOR ColumnName IN(div01,div02,div03,div04,div05,div06,div07 /*add as many as you might need*/)) p;
The result
InitialValue div01 div02 div03 div04 div05 div06 div07
10000.0000 2500.000000000000000000000 2500.000000000000000000000 2500.000000000000000000000 2500.000000000000000000000 NULL NULL NULL
12000.0000 3000.000000000000000000000 3000.000000000000000000000 3000.000000000000000000000 3000.000000000000000000000 NULL NULL NULL
20000.0000 5000.000000000000000000000 5000.000000000000000000000 5000.000000000000000000000 5000.000000000000000000000 NULL NULL NULL
As you can see, the unused columns are returned but stay NULL.
I'd prefer this approach over dynamic sql as the consumer is better of in most cases if the result set and its structure is fixed and predictable...
Hint: You can add the divisor to your result set if needed...
It has to be dynamic query
Check below
Create TABLE Table1 (Origional int)
Declare #DivisonValue INT = 4
insert into Table1
VALUES (12000)
--Change the Top (12) to you what ever number you like. this will be your total number of columns
DECLARE #Columns VARCHAR(MAX) = (SELECT
',' + C.ColumnName + ' = Origional / ' + CAST(#DivisonValue AS VARCHAR(5))
/* Above line which you need to change for division */
FROM
(SELECT TOP (#DivisonValue)
ColumnId = ROW_NUMBER() OVER (ORDER BY s1.[object_id])
,ColumnName ='Result' + CONVERT(VARCHAR(10), ROW_NUMBER() OVER (ORDER BY s1.[object_id]))
FROM sys.all_objects AS s1 CROSS JOIN sys.all_objects AS s2
) AS C
ORDER BY
C.ColumnId
FOR XML PATH (''))
DECLARE #FullQuery VARCHAR(MAX) = 'SELECT Origional,'+ substring(#Columns,2,LEN(#Columns)-1) + ' FROM Table1'
EXEC (#FullQuery)
DROP TABLE table1
GO
Change the logic as per your need for division.
In my select I have multiple dates in one rows, divided by comma.
Main select:
SELECT DISTINCT p.IDVazniZaznam,
stuff(
(
SELECT ','+ CONVERT(VARCHAR,DatumCasZacatku, 22) FROM HVZHlavicka_Prestavka WHERE IDVazniZaznam = p.IDVazniZaznam FOR XML PATH('')
),1,1,'') As DatumCasZacatku,
stuff(
(
SELECT ','+ CONVERT(VARCHAR,DatumCasUkonceni, 22) FROM HVZHlavicka_Prestavka WHERE IDVazniZaznam = p.IDVazniZaznam FOR XML PATH('')
),1,1,'') AS DatumCasUkonceni
FROM (SELECT DISTINCT IDVazniZaznam, DatumCasUkonceni, DatumCasZacatku FROM HVZHlavicka_Prestavka ) p
Like this:
12/04/19 7:45:00 AM,12/04/19 8:00:02 AM
What I need to do is something like that:
1: 12/04/19 7:45:00 AM, 2: 12/04/19 8:00:02 AM
Im not sure if its called prefix, but I think it is. I do not want to put it manually, but I wanna generate it automatically. First date will be number 1, second date number 2 etc.
Its that even possible in SQL?
You can use logic from the below code-
DECLARE #text VARCHAR(MAX) = '12/04/19 7:45:00 AM,12/04/19 8:00:02 AM'
DECLARE #remaining_text VARCHAR(MAX) = #text
DECLARE #new_text VARCHAR(MAX) = ''
DECLARE #CommaIndex INT
DECLARE #Count INT = 1
SET #CommaIndex = CHARINDEX(',',#remaining_text,0)
IF #CommaIndex = 0
BEGIN
SET #new_text = '1: ' + #text
END
ELSE
BEGIN
WHILE #CommaIndex > 0
BEGIN
SET #new_text = #new_text+ ' '+CAST(#Count AS VARCHAR)+': ' + LEFT(#remaining_text,CHARINDEX(',',#remaining_text,0))
SET #remaining_text = RIGHT(#remaining_text,LEN(#remaining_text)-CHARINDEX(',',#remaining_text,0))
SET #CommaIndex = CHARINDEX(',',#remaining_text,0)
SET #Count = #Count + 1
END
END
IF CHARINDEX(',',#text,0) > 0
BEGIN
SET #new_text = #new_text + ' '+CAST(#Count AS VARCHAR)+': ' + #remaining_text
END
SELECT #new_text,#remaining_text
Output is-
1: 12/04/19 7:45:00 AM, 2: 12/04/19 8:00:02 AM
You can use STRING_AGG(), ROW_NUMBER() OVER (ORDER BY ..), STRING_SPLIT() and CONCAT() functions together ( STRING_AGG() works for SQL Server 2017+ ).
In the first step we're splitting the string by comma delimiters in the subquery, and then concatenating those substrings through use of STRING_AGG() :
DECLARE #DatumCasUkonceni NVARCHAR(1000) = '12/04/19 7:45:00 AM,12/04/19 8:00:02 AM';
SELECT STRING_AGG(q.str, ',' ) as "Result"
FROM
(
SELECT CONCAT( ROW_NUMBER() OVER (ORDER BY #DatumCasUkonceni), ' : ',
value ) as str
FROM STRING_SPLIT(#DatumCasUkonceni, ',')
) q
Demo
If STRING_AGG is available to your version of MS Sql Server (2017+), then something like this should do the job.
SELECT IDVazniZaznam
, STRING_AGG(CONCAT(rn,': ',DtStrCasZacatku),', ') AS DatumCasZacatku
, STRING_AGG(CONCAT(rn,': ',DtStrUkonceni),', ') AS DatumCasUkonceni
FROM
(
SELECT DISTINCT IDVazniZaznam
, CONVERT(VARCHAR,DatumCasZacatku, 22) AS DtStrCasZacatku
, CONVERT(VARCHAR,DatumCasUkonceni,22) AS DtStrUkonceni
, ROW_NUMBER() OVER (PARTITION BY IDVazniZaznam ORDER BY DatumCasZacatku, DatumCasUkonceni) AS rn
FROM HVZHlavicka_Prestavka
) q
GROUP BY IDVazniZaznam;
And this will also work in MS Sql Server 2012
WITH CTE AS
(
SELECT DISTINCT IDVazniZaznam
, DatumCasZacatku
, DatumCasUkonceni
, ROW_NUMBER() OVER (PARTITION BY IDVazniZaznam ORDER BY DatumCasUkonceni, DatumCasZacatku) AS rn
FROM HVZHlavicka_Prestavka
)
SELECT q.IDVazniZaznam
, STUFF(a1.DatumCasZacatku,1,2,'') AS DatumCasZacatku
, STUFF(a2.DatumCasUkonceni,1,2,'') AS DatumCasUkonceni
FROM
(
SELECT IDVazniZaznam
FROM CTE
GROUP BY IDVazniZaznam
) AS q
OUTER APPLY
(
SELECT CONCAT(', ',rn,': ', CONVERT(VARCHAR,DatumCasZacatku, 22))
FROM CTE c
WHERE c.IDVazniZaznam = q.IDVazniZaznam
FOR XML PATH ('')
) a1(DatumCasZacatku)
OUTER APPLY
(
SELECT CONCAT(', ',rn,': ', CONVERT(VARCHAR,DatumCasUkonceni,22))
FROM CTE c
WHERE c.IDVazniZaznam = q.IDVazniZaznam
FOR XML PATH ('')
) a2(DatumCasUkonceni);
Test for both on db<>fiddle here
I am using CTE to convert xml to csv so that it can be exported to a file, however if I have an empty xml tag, this currently gets ignored.
Here is my initial solution courtesy of this previous very helpful post:
https://stackoverflow.com/a/23785202/6260721
Here is my sql:
CREATE TABLE EXPORT_TEST
(
DATA varchar(max)
)
INSERT INTO EXPORT_TEST (DATA)
VALUES ('<EXPORT_DATA><ID>ABC123</ID><PRICE_A>5.6</PRICE_A><PRICE_B></PRICE_B><PRICE_C>8.1</PRICE_C></EXPORT_DATA>')
DECLARE #commaSeparatedValues NVARCHAR(MAX)
DECLARE #xml XML = (SELECT TOP 1 CONVERT(xml,DATA) FROM EXPORT_TEST)
;WITH cte AS (
SELECT
rownr = ROW_NUMBER() OVER (ORDER BY #commaSeparatedValues),
Tbl.col.query('.') AS [xml]
FROM #xml.nodes('EXPORT_DATA') Tbl(col)
), cols AS (
SELECT
rownr,
Tbl.Col.value('.', 'nvarchar(max)') AS Value
FROM cte
CROSS APPLY cte.xml.nodes('//text()') Tbl(Col)
)
INSERT INTO EXPORT_TEST(DATA)
SELECT DISTINCT
STUFF((
SELECT ',' + IIF(ISNUMERIC(value) = 1, Value, '''' + Value + '''')
FROM cols SSF WHERE SSF.rownr = S.rownr
FOR XML PATH(''),TYPE
).value('.','VARCHAR(MAX)'
), 1, 1, '') as DATA
FROM cols S
SELECT * FROM EXPORT_TEST
At the moment, it is returning:
'ABC123',5.6,8.1
But I don't want it to ignore PRICE_B, I want it to return an empty string:
'ABC123',5.6,,8.1 <--extra comma required where PRICE_B should be
How can I achieve this?
Besides the possibility to shredd the full XML and re-concatenate its values (there is an answer already), you might use FLWOR-XQuery:
DECLARE #xml XML=
'<EXPORT_DATA>
<ID>ABC123</ID>
<PRICE_A>5.6</PRICE_A>
<PRICE_B />
<PRICE_C>8.1</PRICE_C>
</EXPORT_DATA>';
EDIT better to read with a variable $txt instead of ($n/text())[1]
SELECT
STUFF
(
#xml.query('
let $r:=/EXPORT_DATA
for $n in $r/*
let $txt:=($n/text())[1]
return if(empty($txt) or not(empty(number($txt)))) then
concat(",",string($txt))
else concat(",''",string($txt),"''")
').value('.','nvarchar(max)'),1,1,'');
The result
'ABC123' ,5.6 , ,8.1
This code works on a mass of records using XQUERY.
I'm assuming char(10) (Line Feed) does not appear in your data.
I'm assuming the maximum length of the concatenated text is 1000 (I don't want to use varchar(max) for no good reason)
You can change both of these assumptions if you wish
declare #separator char(1) = char(10)
select substring
(
replace
(
cast
(
cast(DATA as xml).query
(
'for $i in //*
where not($i/*)
return concat
(
sql:variable("#separator")
,if(local-name($i) = "ID") then ('''''''') else ('''')
,($i/text())[1]
,if(local-name($i) = "ID") then ('''''''') else ('''')
)'
) as nvarchar(1000)
) ,' ' + #separator ,','
) ,2 ,1000
) as csv
from EXPORT_TEST
INSERT INTO EXPORT_TEST (DATA) VALUES
('<EXPORT_DATA><ID>ABC123</ID><PRICE_A>5.6</PRICE_A><PRICE_B></PRICE_B><PRICE_C>8.1</PRICE_C></EXPORT_DATA>')
,('<EXPORT_DATA><ID>DEF456</ID><PRICE_A>6.7</PRICE_A><PRICE_B>66.77</PRICE_B><PRICE_C>7.2</PRICE_C></EXPORT_DATA>')
,('<EXPORT_DATA><ID>GHI789</ID><PRICE_A></PRICE_A><PRICE_B>88.99</PRICE_B><PRICE_C></PRICE_C></EXPORT_DATA>')
csv
'ABC123',5.6,,8.1
'DEF456',6.7,66.77,7.2
'GHI789',,88.99,
What about this:
;WITH cte AS (
SELECT
rownr = ROW_NUMBER() OVER (ORDER BY #commaSeparatedValues),
Tbl.col.query('.') AS [xml]
FROM #xml.nodes('EXPORT_DATA') Tbl(col)
), cols AS (
SELECT
rownr,
Tbl.Col.value('.', 'nvarchar(max)') AS Value
FROM cte
CROSS APPLY cte.xml.nodes('EXPORT_DATA/child::node()') Tbl(Col)
)
INSERT INTO EXPORT_TEST(DATA)
SELECT DISTINCT
STUFF((
SELECT ',' + IIF(ISNUMERIC(value) = 1 OR LEN(value) = 0, Value, '''' + Value + '''')
FROM cols SSF WHERE SSF.rownr = S.rownr
FOR XML PATH(''),TYPE
).value('.','VARCHAR(MAX)'
), 1, 1, '') as DATA
FROM cols S
Using cte.xml.nodes('EXPORT_DATA/child::node()') in the second CTE will give as all nodes:
;WITH cte AS (
SELECT
rownr = ROW_NUMBER() OVER (ORDER BY #commaSeparatedValues),
Tbl.col.query('.') AS [xml]
FROM #xml.nodes('EXPORT_DATA') Tbl(col)
)
SELECT
rownr
,Tbl.Col.query('.')
,Tbl.Col.value('.', 'nvarchar(max)') AS Value
FROM cte
CROSS APPLY cte.xml.nodes('EXPORT_DATA/child::node()') Tbl(Col)
Then, in the concatenation we need to add check for empty string:
IIF(ISNUMERIC(value) = 1 OR LEN(value) = 0, Value, '''' + Value + '''')
I'm storing some queries in a table column so I can execute them later passing some parameters.
But it has been really annoying to format the query into an Update sentence, because of the special characters.
For Example:
SELECT * FROM MOUNTAINS WHERE MON_NAME='PALMA' AND MON_DESC LIKE '%TRANVULCANIA%'
Then I need the string just for the udpate query:
UPDATE QUERIES
SET QUE_SEL='SELECT * FROM MOUNTAINS WHERE MON_NAME='''+'PALMA'+''' AND MON_DESC LIKE '''+'%TRANVULCANIA%'+''' '
WHERE QUE_ID=1
as you can see the first ' must be replaced for '''+' but the next door ' must be replaced by '+'''
This is the query I'm working on:
DECLARE #QUERY VARCHAR(MAX)
SELECT #QUERY='SELECT * FROM QUERIES WHERE QUE_NOMBRE='''+'PRUEBA 1'+''' '
SELECT
t.r.value('.', 'varchar(255)') AS token
, ROW_NUMBER() OVER (ORDER BY (SELECT 1)) AS id
FROM (
SELECT myxml = CAST('<t>' + REPLACE(#QUERY, '''', '</t><t>''</t><t>') + '</t>' AS XML)
) p
CROSS APPLY myxml.nodes('/t') t(r)
this is the result:
token id
-------------------------------------------------- --------------------
SELECT * FROM QUERIES WHERE QUE_NOMBRE= 1
' 2
PRUEBA 1 3
' 4
5
Now I want a column that tell me when to open and when to close and then I can set the final replace.
Adapting the solution given by #rivarolle
DECLARE #QUERY VARCHAR(MAX)
DECLARE #FORMATTED varchar(max)
SELECT #QUERY='SELECT * FROM QUERIES WHERE QUE_NOMBRE='''+'PRUEBA 1'+''''
;WITH TOKENS AS(
SELECT
t.r.value('.', 'varchar(MAX)') AS token
, ROW_NUMBER() OVER (ORDER BY (SELECT 1)) AS Id
FROM (
SELECT myxml = CAST('<t>' + REPLACE(#QUERY, '''', '</t><t>''</t><t>') + '</t>' AS XML)
) p
CROSS APPLY myxml.nodes('/t') t(r)
)
,
Tokens2 as (
SELECT
TOKENS.token as token
,quotes.row%2 as tipoapostrofe
from Tokens
left join (select row_number() over( order by Id asc) as row, a.* FROM (SELECT * from Tokens) a where Token = '''') quotes
on quotes.Id = Tokens.Id
)
SELECT #FORMATTED = STUFF((
SELECT ' ' + REPLACE(token,'''',CASE tipoapostrofe WHEN 1 THEN '''''''+''' WHEN 0 THEN '''+''''''' ELSE '' END) AS [text()]
FROM Tokens2
FOR XML PATH('')
), 1, 1, '')
print #FORMATTED
This Works, just need a function for cleaning XML special characters and another for putting back, and the Dynamic queries are printed ready for an update.
I think its not necessary to replace an apostrophe with '''+' to open and '+''' to close, I made some probes and you can exec a query that you replace opening and closing apostrophes with the same.. for example '''+' for open and '''+' for close.
So the query would be:
DECLARE #QUERY VARCHAR(MAX)
DECLARE #FORMATTED varchar(max)
SELECT #QUERY='SELECT * FROM QUERIES WHERE QUE_NOMBRE='''+'PRUEBA 1'+''''
SELECT #FORMATTED= STUFF((
SELECT ' ' +
(SELECT
CASE
WHEN t.r.value('.', 'varchar(250)')='''' THEN REPLACE(t.r.value('.', 'varchar(250)'), '''','''''''+''')
ELSE t.r.value('.', 'varchar(250)')
END
) AS [text()]
-- , ROW_NUMBER() OVER (ORDER BY (SELECT 1)) AS id
FROM (
SELECT myxml = CAST('<t>' + REPLACE(#QUERY, '''', '</t><t>''</t><t>') + '</t>' AS XML)
) p
CROSS APPLY myxml.nodes('/t') t(r)
FOR XML PATH('')
), 1, 1, '')
SET #FORMATTED=REPLACE(#FORMATTED,' ','')
PRINT #FORMATTED
then I get:
SELECT * FROM QUERIES WHERE QUE_NOMBRE= '''+' PRUEBA 1 '''+'
then I copy into a variable and execute
DECLARE #VAR VARCHAR(500)
SET #VAR='SELECT * FROM QUERIES WHERE QUE_NOMBRE='''+'PRUEBA 1'''+' '
EXEC(#VAR)
It Works for very simple queries, but with longer and complicated queries it doesn't works..
Assuming your token table is Tokens(Token, Id, Position):
update Tokens
set position = quotes.row%2
from Tokens
left join (select row_number() over( order by Id asc) as row, a.* FROM (SELECT * from Tokens) a where Token = '''') quotes
on quotes.Id = Tokens.Id
The position column will have a value of 1 for starting quote and 0 for closing quote. NULL for the rest.
I have a bit of a tricky situation. I have a column that contains a pipe delimited set of numbers in numerous rows in a table. For example:
Courses
-------------------
1|2
1|2|3
1|2|8
10
11
11|12
What I want to achieve is to return rows where the number only appears once in my output.
Ideally, I want to try and carry this out using SQL rather than having to carry out checks at a web application level. Carrying out a DISTINCT does not achieve what I want.
The desired output would be:
Courses
-------------------
1
2
3
8
10
11
12
I would appreciated if anyone can guide me in the right direction.
Thanks.
Please try:
declare #tbl as table(Courses nvarchar(max))
insert into #tbl values
('1|2'),
('1|2|3'),
('1|2|8'),
('10'),
('11'),
('11|12')
select * from #tbl
SELECT
DISTINCT CAST(Split.a.value('.', 'VARCHAR(100)') AS INT) AS CVS
FROM
(
SELECT CAST ('<M>' + REPLACE(Courses, '|', '</M><M>') + '</M>' AS XML) AS CVS
FROM #tbl
) AS A CROSS APPLY CVS.nodes ('/M') AS Split(a)
ORDER BY 1
Try this one -
SET NOCOUNT ON;
DECLARE #temp TABLE
(
string VARCHAR(500)
)
DECLARE #Separator CHAR(1)
SELECT #Separator = '|'
INSERT INTO #temp (string)
VALUES
('1|2'),
('1|2|3'),
('1|2|8'),
('10'),
('11'),
('11|12')
-- 1. XML
SELECT p.value('(./s)[1]', 'VARCHAR(500)')
FROM (
SELECT field = CAST('<r><s>' + REPLACE(t.string, #Separator, '</s></r><r><s>') + '</s></r>' AS XML)
FROM #temp t
) d
CROSS APPLY field.nodes('/r') t(p)
-- 2. CTE
;WITH a AS
(
SELECT
start_pos = 1
, end_pos = CHARINDEX(#Separator, t.string)
, t.string
FROM #temp t
UNION ALL
SELECT
end_pos + 1
, CHARINDEX(#Separator, string, end_pos + 1)
, string
FROM a
WHERE end_pos > 0
)
SELECT d.name
FROM (
SELECT
name = SUBSTRING(
string
, start_pos
, ABS(end_pos - start_pos)
)
FROM a
) d
WHERE d.name != ''
Try this :
create table course (courses varchar(100))
insert into course values('1|2')
insert into course values('1|2|3')
insert into course values('1|2|8')
insert into course values('10')
insert into course values('11')
insert into course values('11|12')
Declare #col varchar(200)
SELECT
#col=(
SELECT DISTINCT c.courses + '|'
FROM course c
FOR XML PATH('')
);
select * from course
;with demo as(
select cast(substring(#col,1,charindex('|',#col,1)-1) AS INT) cou,charindex('|',#col,1) pos
union all
select cast(substring(#col,pos+1,charindex('|',#col,pos+1)-pos-1)AS INT) cou,charindex('|',#col,pos+1) pos
from demo where pos<LEN(#col))
select distinct cou from demo
Could not manage without recursion :( Something like this could do the trich?
WITH splitNum(num, r)
AS
(
SELECT
SUBSTRING(<field>,1, CHARINDEX('|', <field>)-1) num,
SUBSTRING(<field>,CHARINDEX('|', <field>)+1, len(<field>)) r
FROM <yourtable> as a
UNION ALL
SELECT
SUBSTRING(r,1, CHARINDEX('|', r)-1) num,
SUBSTRING(r,CHARINDEX('|', r)+1, len(r)) r
FROM <yourtable> b
WHERE CHARINDEX('|', r) > 0
inner join splitNum as c on <whatevertheprimarykeyis>
)
SELECT distinct num FROM splitNum
Didn't make it run, but it should do the trick, just replace the and with the correct info
One way would be to use a recursive CTE:
with cte as
(select cast(case charindex('|',courses) when 0 then courses
else left(courses,charindex('|',courses)-1) end as int) course,
case charindex('|',courses) when 0 then ''
else right(courses,len(courses)-charindex('|',courses)) end courses
from courses
union all
select cast(case charindex('|',courses) when 0 then courses
else left(courses,charindex('|',courses)-1) end as int) course,
case charindex('|',courses) when 0 then ''
else right(courses,len(courses)-charindex('|',courses)) end courses
from cte
where len(courses)>0)
select distinct course from cte
SQLFiddle here.