Splitting and updating strings using dynamic SQL inside a cursor - sql

Question

The code below takes a single field that contains delimited text and splits it up and places it in adjacent fields depending on the amount of delimiters.
Example of the delimited text:
OFFR0048|OFFR0046|OFFR0044|OFFR0042|OFFR0040|OFFR0038|OF03993|
The code is running fine however it takes a considerable amount of time to complete.
Can this process below be executed more efficiently?
--create procedure variables
declare #CONS varchar(150), #SINGLE varchar(20), #BCC int, #SQLText nvarchar(1000), #Count int
--create cursor
declare String_Split CURSOR for
select ADD_BARCODE from ADD_BARCODES --where (LEN(ADD_BARCODE) - LEN(REPLACE(ADD_BARCODE,'|',''))) >= 7
open String_Split --open cursor
fetch next from String_Split INTO #CONS --set cursor to the first row
WHILE ##FETCH_STATUS = 0 --start procedure
begin
set #BCC = 1 --set the string field to 1
while LEN(#cons) > 0 --start while there are addition codes to split
begin
if CHARINDEX('|',#CONS) > 0 --checks if there are strings to split
begin --begin compound statement 1
set #SINGLE = SUBSTRING(#cons,0,CHARINDEX('|',#CONS)) --use delimiter to split the string
set #SQLText = 'update ADD_BARCODES set ADD_BC' + CAST(#BCC as varchar)+' =
''' + #SINGLE + ''' WHERE CURRENT OF String_Split' --create dynamic query to update relevant string column
exec sp_executesql #SQLText --execute dynamic query
set #BCC = #BCC + 1 --increment string field with 1
set #CONS = SUBSTRING(#CONS, LEN(#SINGLE + '|') + 1,len(#CONS)) --set the remaining string to the #cons varianble for further processing
end --end compound statement 1
else --if there are not strings to split
begin --begin compound statement 2
set #SINGLE = #CONS --set #cons variable equal to the #single variable
set #CONS = null --execute dynamic query
set #SQLText = 'update ADD_BARCODES set ADD_BC' + CAST(#BCC as varchar)+' =
''' + #SINGLE + ''' WHERE CURRENT OF String_Split' --create dynamic query to update relevant string column
exec sp_executesql #SQLText --execute dynamic query
end --end compound statement 2
end --end while there are addition codes to split
fetch next from String_Split INTO #CONS --fetch next entry in cursor
end --end procedure
close String_Split --close cursor
deallocate String_Split --deallocate cursor memory

Answer 1

Perhaps you could use a parser function and then apply your updates in one statement with a join. I suspect one update statement would be more efficient that constructing and executing 7 (in this case)
Declare #DelStr varchar(max) = 'OFFR0048|OFFR0046|OFFR0044|OFFR0042|OFFR0040|OFFR0038|OF03993|'
Select * from [dbo].[udf-Str-Parse](#DelStr,'|') Where Key_Value<>'' Order by 1
Returns
Key_PS Key_Value
1 OFFR0048
2 OFFR0046
3 OFFR0044
4 OFFR0042
5 OFFR0040
6 OFFR0038
7 OF03993
There are millions of variations (some better/some worse), but here is my parser
CREATE FUNCTION [dbo].[udf-Str-Parse] (#String varchar(max),#delimeter varchar(10))
--Usage: Select * from [dbo].[udf-Str-Parse]('Dog,Cat,House,Car',',')
-- Select * from [dbo].[udf-Str-Parse]('John Cappelletti was here',' ')
-- Select * from [dbo].[udf-Str-Parse]('id26,id46|id658,id967','|')
Returns #ReturnTable Table (Key_PS int IDENTITY(1,1) NOT NULL , Key_Value varchar(max))
As
Begin
Declare #intPos int,#SubStr varchar(max)
Set #IntPos = CharIndex(#delimeter, #String)
Set #String = Replace(#String,#delimeter+#delimeter,#delimeter)
While #IntPos > 0
Begin
Set #SubStr = Substring(#String, 0, #IntPos)
Insert into #ReturnTable (Key_Value) values (#SubStr)
Set #String = Replace(#String, #SubStr + #delimeter, '')
Set #IntPos = CharIndex(#delimeter, #String)
End
Insert into #ReturnTable (Key_Value) values (#String)
Return
End

Answer 2

Haven't tried this, but it might be a lot faster:
Split the data into rows first, for example with DelimitedSplit8k
Construct a pivot from the data. I would assume you have fixed number of columns in your table, so you can use fixed number of columns
Use the pivot for example in a CTE to update the data to the final table.