SQL CSV as Query Results Column - sql

Question

I have the following SQL which queries a single table, single row, and returns the results as a comma separate string e.g.
Forms
1, 10, 4
SQL :
DECLARE #tmp varchar(250)
SET #tmp = ''
SELECT #tmp = #tmp + Form_Number + ', '
FROM Facility_EI_Forms_Required
WHERE Facility_ID = 11 AND EI_Year=2012 -- single Facility, single year
SELECT SUBSTRING(#tmp, 1, LEN(#tmp) - 1) AS Forms
The Facility_EI_Forms_Required table has three records for Facility_ID = 11
Facility_ID EI_Year Form_Number
11 2012 1
11 2012 10
11 2012 4
Form_number is a varchar field.
And I have a Facility table with Facility_ID and Facility_Name++.
How do I create a query to query all Facilites for a given year and produce the CSV output field?
I have this so far:
DECLARE #tmp varchar(250)
SET #tmp = ''
SELECT TOP 100 A.Facility_ID, A.Facility_Name,
(
SELECT #tmp = #tmp + B.Form_Number + ', '
FROM B
WHERE B.Facility_ID = A.Facility_ID
AND B.EI_Year=2012
)
FROM Facility A, Facility_EI_Forms_Required B
But it gets syntax errors on using #tmp
My guess is this is too complex a task for a query and a stored procedure may be need, but I have little knowledge of SPs. Can this be done with a nested query?
I tried a Scalar Value Function
ALTER FUNCTION [dbo].[sp_func_EI_Form_List]
(
-- Add the parameters for the function here
#p1 int,
#pYr int
)
RETURNS varchar
AS
BEGIN
-- Declare the return variable here
DECLARE #Result varchar
-- Add the T-SQL statements to compute the return value here
DECLARE #tmp varchar(250)
SET #tmp = ''
SELECT #tmp = #tmp + Form_Number + ', '
FROM OIS..Facility_EI_Forms_Required
WHERE Facility_ID = #p1 AND EI_Year = #pYr -- single Facility, single year
SELECT #Result = #tmp -- SUBSTRING(#tmp, 1, LEN(#tmp) - 1)-- #p1
-- Return the result of the function
RETURN #Result
END
The call
select Facility_ID, Facility.Facility_Name,
dbo.sp_func_EI_Form_List(Facility_ID,2012)
from facility where Facility_ID=11
returns
Facility_ID Facility_Name Form_List
11 Hanson Aggregates 1
so it is only returning the first record instead of all three. What am I doing wrong?

Answer 1

Try the following approach, which is an analogy to SO answer Concatenate many rows into a single text string. I hope it is correct, as I cannot try it out without having the schema and some demo data (maybe you can add schema and data to your question):
Select distinct A.Facility_ID, A.Facility_Name,
substring(
(
Select ',' + B.Form_Number AS [text()]
From Facility_EI_Forms_Required B
Where B.Facility_ID = A.Facility_ID
AND B.EI_Year=2012
ORDER BY B.Facility_ID
For XML PATH ('')
), 2, 1000) [Form_List]
From Facility A