Find longest word in string with SQL - sql

Question

I have found the following snippet online:
DECLARE #str VARCHAR(5000)= 'aaaa bbbbb cccccccc ddddddddddddddddddd'
SELECT TOP 1 Split.a.value('.', 'VARCHAR(100)') as longest_Word
FROM (SELECT Cast ('<M>' + Replace(#str, ' ', '</M><M>') + '</M>' AS XML) AS Data) AS A
CROSS APPLY Data.nodes ('/M') AS Split(a)
ORDER BY Len(Split.a.value('.', 'VARCHAR(100)')) DESC
Which finds the longest word in a text file ('ddddddddddddddddddd in this case). However, I do not know how to apply this per row in a certain column so that it adds a column next to each row which tells me what the longest word is in SQL Server.
Each column in SQL Server in which it needs to search should look like this with the extra column added next to it:
COLUMN 1 RESULT
ABC ABCD ABCD
BC BCDE BCDE
9II IIIIV IIIIV
... ...

Answer 1

A simple CROSS APPLY can help here.
Note, I used my own XML Parser because it is "XML Safe"
Declare #YourTable table ([COLUMN 1] varchar(max))
Insert Into #YourTable values
('ABC ABCD'),
('BC BCDE'),
('9II IIIIV')
Select A.[COLUMN 1]
,Result = B.RetVal
From #YourTable A
Cross Apply (
Select Top 1 *
From (
Select RetSeq = Row_Number() over (Order By (Select null))
,RetVal = LTrim(RTrim(B.i.value('(./text())[1]', 'varchar(max)')))
From (Select x = Cast('<x>' + replace((Select replace(A.[COLUMN 1],' ','§§Split§§') as [*] For XML Path('')),'§§Split§§','</x><x>')+'</x>' as xml).query('.')) as A
Cross Apply x.nodes('x') AS B(i)
) B1
Order by Len(RetVal) Desc,RetSeq
) B
Returns
COLUMN 1 Result
ABC ABCD ABCD
BC BCDE BCDE
9II IIIIV IIIIV
EDIT - You Want to Show TIES
Declare #YourTable table ([COLUMN 1] varchar(max))
Insert Into #YourTable values
('ABC ABCD'),
('BC BCDE 1234'),
('9II IIIIV')
Select A.[COLUMN 1]
,Result = B.RetVal
From #YourTable A
Cross Apply (
Select Top 1 with ties *
From (
Select RetSeq = Row_Number() over (Order By (Select null))
,RetVal = LTrim(RTrim(B.i.value('(./text())[1]', 'varchar(max)')))
From (Select x = Cast('<x>' + replace((Select replace(A.[COLUMN 1],' ','§§Split§§') as [*] For XML Path('')),'§§Split§§','</x><x>')+'</x>' as xml).query('.')) as A
Cross Apply x.nodes('x') AS B(i)
) B1
Order by Dense_Rank() over (Order by Len(RetVal) Desc)
) B
Returns
COLUMN 1 Result
ABC ABCD ABCD
BC BCDE 1234 BCDE --<< Tie
BC BCDE 1234 1234 --<< Tie Added for Illustration
9II IIIIV IIIIV