How to control the output format of XML in SQL - sql

Question

I'm trying to retrieve data from a (SQL Server 2008 R2) table in XML format and can't seem to get it into an ideal structure. I've tried various FOR XML modes and join methods, but I have minimal experience with XML and have not worked with XML output via SQL prior to this.
My data is in a table named XMLResults with the following structure:
ResultID Country Product Disposition Results
-----------------------------------------------
1 UK ABC Result1 100
2 UK ABC Result2 200
3 UK ABC Result3 300
4 UK XYZ Result1 100
5 UK XYZ Result2 200
6 UK XYZ Result3 300
7 USA ABC Result1 100
8 USA ABC Result2 200
9 USA ABC Result3 300
10 USA XYZ Result1 100
11 USA XYZ Result2 200
12 USA XYZ Result3 300
Currently I have this query:
SELECT (SELECT Country,
(SELECT Product,
(SELECT Disposition, Results
FROM XMLResults t1
WHERE t1.ResultID = t2.ResultID
FOR XML PATH ('Dispositions'), TYPE, ELEMENTS
)
FROM XMLResults t2
WHERE t2.ResultID = t3.ResultID
FOR XML PATH ('Products'), TYPE, ELEMENTS
)
FROM XMLResults t3
ORDER BY Country, Product
FOR XML PATH ('Countries'), TYPE, ELEMENTS
)
FOR XML PATH('Stats');
Which returns the XML like this:
<Stats>
<Countries>
<Country>UK</Country>
<Products>
<Product>ABC</Product>
<Dispositions>
<Disposition>Result1</Disposition>
<Results>100</Results>
</Dispositions>
</Products>
</Countries>
<Countries>
<Country>UK</Country>
<Products>
<Product>ABC</Product>
<Dispositions>
<Disposition>Result2</Disposition>
<Results>200</Results>
</Dispositions>
</Products>
</Countries>
<Countries>
<Country>UK</Country>
<Products>
<Product>ABC</Product>
<Dispositions>
<Disposition>Result3</Disposition>
<Results>300</Results>
</Dispositions>
</Products>
</Countries>
...
</Stats>
Not terrible, but I'd prefer it not drop all the way back out to the 'Countries' level after each result, and probably don't need the extra generic tags either.
Something like this would be better:
<Stats>
<Countries>
<Country = "UK">
<Products>
<Product = "ABC">
<Dispositions>
<Disposition>
<ReasonCode>Result1</ReasonCode>
<Count>100</Count>
</Disposition>
<Disposition>
<ReasonCode>Result2</ReasonCode>
<Count>200</Count>
</Disposition>
<Disposition>
<ReasonCode>Result3</ReasonCode>
<Count>300</Count>
</Disposition>
</Dispositions>
</Product>
...
</Products>
</Country>
...
</Countries>
</Stats>
Maybe even something like this (looks a little bit cleaner):
<Stats>
<Country = "UK">
<Product = "ABC">
<Disposition ReasonCode = "Result1" Count = "100" />
<Disposition ReasonCode = "Result2" Count = "200" />
<Disposition ReasonCode = "Result3" Count = "300" />
</Product>
<Product = "XYZ">
<Disposition ReasonCode = "Result1" Count = "100" />
<Disposition ReasonCode = "Result2" Count = "200" />
<Disposition ReasonCode = "Result3" Count = "300" />
</Product>
</Country>
<Country = "USA">
<Product = "ABC">
<Disposition ReasonCode = "Result1" Count = "100" />
<Disposition ReasonCode = "Result2" Count = "200" />
<Disposition ReasonCode = "Result3" Count = "300" />
</Product>
<Product = "XYZ">
<Disposition ReasonCode = "Result1" Count = "100" />
<Disposition ReasonCode = "Result2" Count = "200" />
<Disposition ReasonCode = "Result3" Count = "300" />
</Product>
</Country>
</Stats>
The output format isn't set in stone, so if there are recommendations, I'm open to suggestions on that as well.
Thanks,
Sean
Edit for sample data:
CREATE TABLE XMLResults (
ResultID BIGINT IDENTITY(1,1) NOT NULL
, Country VARCHAR(50) NOT NULL
, Product VARCHAR(50) NOT NULL
, Disposition VARCHAR(50) NOT NULL
, Results INT NOT NULL);
INSERT INTO XMLResults (Country, Product, Disposition, Results)
VALUES ('UK', 'ABC', 'Result1', 100)
, ('UK', 'ABC', 'Result2', 200)
, ('UK', 'ABC', 'Result3', 300)
, ('UK', 'XYZ', 'Result1', 100)
, ('UK', 'XYZ', 'Result2', 200)
, ('UK', 'XYZ', 'Result3', 300)
, ('USA', 'ABC', 'Result1', 100)
, ('USA', 'ABC', 'Result2', 200)
, ('USA', 'ABC', 'Result3', 300)
, ('USA', 'XYZ', 'Result1', 100)
, ('USA', 'XYZ', 'Result2', 200)
, ('USA', 'XYZ', 'Result3', 300);

Answer 1

If you want attribute-centric xml, prepend '#' to your column aliases. You can completely customize the output, e.g:
SELECT
Country [#Country],
(SELECT
Product [#Product],
(SELECT
Disposition [#ReasonCode],
Results [#Count]
FROM #XMLResults t3
WHERE t3.Country = t1.Country AND t3.Product = t2.Product
FOR XML PATH('Disposition'),TYPE)
FROM #XMLResults t2
WHERE t2.Country = t1.Country
GROUP BY Product
FOR XML PATH('Product'),TYPE)
FROM #XMLResults t1
GROUP BY Country
FOR XML PATH('Country'), ROOT ('Stats')
Just play around with it.