Getting Multiple Answers out of an XML String SQL - sql

Question

I have an XML document saved in a Column as varchar(max). The text I want is surrounded by <Text> Words I Want</Text>but these Text tags repeat sometimes 4 or 5 times.
How do I loop through the same document x number of times dependent on the number of text tags?
Currently I'm using this to pull out the first bit of text
DECLARE #first_char nvarchar(10)
DECLARE #second_char nvarchar(10)
SET #first_char = 'xt>';
SET #second_char = '</text>';
SELECT[TestId]
,[SectionId],
SUBSTRING
(
-- column
settings
-- start position
,CHARINDEX(#first_char, Settings , 1) + 3
-- length
,CASE
WHEN (CHARINDEX(#second_char, Settings , 0) - CHARINDEX(#first_char, Settings, 0)) > 0
THEN CHARINDEX(#second_char, Settings, 0) - CHARINDEX(#first_char, Settings, 0) - 3
ELSE 0
END
) AS Response
FROM [B2IK-TestBuilder].[dbo].[Questions]
group by [TestId]
,[SectionId], settings
and I know how many times the Text tag appears.
This is an example of the xml document saved a varchar(max):
<Settings>
<ShowNotes>true</ShowNotes>
<ShowComment>false</ShowComment>
<TextBefore>From the six safety essentials, a </TextBefore>
<TextAfter>is essential before any work is carried out?</TextAfter>
<Items>
<Item>
<Text>Answer 1</Text>
</Item>
<Item>
<Text>Answer 2</Text>
</Item>
<Item>
<Text>Answer 3</Text>
</Item>
<Item>
<Text>Answer 4</Text>
</Item>
<Item>
<Text>Answer 5</Text>
</Item>
<Item>
<Text>Answer 6</Text>
</Item>
Thank you in advance.

Answer 1

OK since SQL 2005 you can use XPath to query the data. I would recommend using the XML column type for the Settings column. Then you can use CROSS APPLY to get the Item nodes.
SELECT q.TestId,q.SectionId,x.XmlCol.value('(Text)[1]','VARCHAR(MAX)')
FROM Questions q
CROSS APPLY q.settings.nodes('/Settings/Items/Item') x(XmlCol);
If you for some reason cannot change the type of you settings column you could cast it in your statement.
SELECT q.TestId,q.SectionId,x.XmlCol.value('(Text)[1]','VARCHAR(MAX)')
FROM (SELECT TestId,SectionId, cast([settings] as xml) as Data FROM Questions) q
CROSS APPLY q.settings.nodes('/Settings/Items/Item') x(XmlCol);