Splitting a string of unlimited length SQL - sql

Question

I have a data column with values like this:
Table1
ID|GROUPNAME |MEMBER
1|GRP1_ML_Unit1_Role1|GRP=User1,DC=com;GRP=User2,DC=com
2|GRP2_ML_Unit2_Role2|GRP=User3,DC=com;GRP=User4,DC=com;GRP=User5,DC=com
3|GRP3_ML_Unit3_Role3|GRP=User6,DC=com;GRP=User7,DC=com;GRP=User8,DC=com;GRP=User8,DC=com
Expected output
ID|GRP1 |GRP2|GRP3 |GRP4 |MEM1 |MEM2 |MEM3 |MEM4|MEM5|
1 |GRP1 |ML |Unit1|Role1|GRP=User1,DC=com|GRP=User2,DC=com| | |
2 |GRP2 |ML |Unit2|Role2|GRP=User3,DC=com|GRP=User4,DC=com|GRP=User5,DC=com| |
3 |GRP3 |ML |Unit3|Role3|GRP=User6,DC=com|GRP=User7,DC=com|GRP=User8,DC=com|GRP=User8,DC=com |
Thanks,
Ryl

Answer 1

The completed solution is below with the sample data you gave me.
First, create a temp table and fill it with data.
-- Drop the table
drop table #member;
go
-- Sample table
create table #member
(
member_id int not null,
group_name varchar(256),
member_data varchar(8000)
);
go
-- Sample data
insert into #member values
(1, 'GRP1_ML_Unit1_Role1', 'GRP=User1,DC=com;GRP=User2,DC=com'),
(2, 'GRP2_ML_Unit2_Role2', 'GRP=User3,DC=com;GRP=User4,DC=com;GRP=User5,DC=com'),
(3, 'GRP3_ML_Unit3_Role3', 'GRP=User6,DC=com;GRP=User7,DC=com;GRP=User8,DC=com;GRP=User8,DC=com');
go
-- Show the data
select * from #member;
go
Second, copy down one of the many string splitters out there. I ended up installing Jeff Moden's string spliter for 8K max strings.
The query is almost there. However, each column we want is a row. We need to dynamically pivot the table.
--
-- Almost there!
--
-- Data in columns, instead of rows
select m.member_id, m.group_name, s.Item as cols_data, 'MEM' + cast(s.ItemNumber as varchar(6)) as cols_name from #member as m
CROSS APPLY dbo.DelimitedSplit8k(m.member_data,';') s
go
Last but not least, figure out the number of columns. Write dynamic TSQL to pivot our dat and get our result.
--
-- Write dynamic sql to solve
--
DECLARE
#cols AS nvarchar(MAX),
#query AS nvarchar(MAX);
-- Get a dynamic number of columns
SET #cols = STUFF(
(
SELECT distinct ',' + QUOTENAME(c.cols_name)
FROM
(
select m.member_id, m.group_name, s.Item as cols_data, 'MEM' + cast(s.ItemNumber as varchar(6)) as cols_name from #member as m
CROSS APPLY dbo.DelimitedSplit8k(m.member_data,';') s
) as c
FOR XML PATH(''), TYPE).value('.', 'NVARCHAR(MAX)')
,1,1,'');
print #cols;
-- Make dynamic pivot query
set #query = 'SELECT member_id as ID1, group_name as GROUP1, ' + #cols + ' from
(
select m.member_id, m.group_name, s.Item as cols_data, ''MEM'' + cast(s.ItemNumber as varchar(6)) as cols_name from #member as m
CROSS APPLY dbo.DelimitedSplit8k(m.member_data, '';'') s
) x
pivot
(
max(cols_data)
for cols_name in (' + #cols + ')
) p ';
execute(#query)
A screen shot of the results in the desired format.