Convert Comma Delimited String to bigint in SQL Server - sql

Question

I have a varchar string of delimited numbers separated by commas that I want to use in my SQL script but I need to compare with a bigint field in the database. Need to know to convert it:
DECLARE #RegionID varchar(200) = null
SET #RegionID = '853,834,16,467,841,460,495,44,859,457,437,836,864,434,86,838,458,472,832,433,142,154,159,839,831,469,442,275,840,299,446,220,300,225,227,447,301,450,230,837,441,835,302,477,855,411,395,279,303'
SELECT a.ClassAdID, -- 1
a.AdURL, -- 2
a.AdTitle, -- 3
a.ClassAdCatID, -- 4
b.ClassAdCat, -- 5
a.Img1, -- 6
a.AdText, -- 7
a.MemberID, -- 9
a.Viewed, -- 10
c.Domain, -- 11
a.CreateDate -- 12
FROM ClassAd a
INNER JOIN ClassAdCat b ON b.ClassAdCAtID = a.ClassAdCAtID
INNER JOIN Region c ON c.RegionID = a.RegionID
AND a.PostType = 'CPN'
AND DATEDIFF(d, GETDATE(), ExpirationDate) >= 0
AND a.RegionID IN (#RegionID)
AND Viewable = 'Y'
This fails with the following error:
Error converting data type varchar to bigint.
RegionID In the database is a bigint field.. need to convert the varchar to bigint.. any ideas..?
Many thanks in advance,
neojakey

Answer 1

create this function:
CREATE function [dbo].[f_split]
(
#param nvarchar(max),
#delimiter char(1)
)
returns #t table (val nvarchar(max), seq int)
as
begin
set #param += #delimiter
;with a as
(
select cast(1 as bigint) f, charindex(#delimiter, #param) t, 1 seq
union all
select t + 1, charindex(#delimiter, #param, t + 1), seq + 1
from a
where charindex(#delimiter, #param, t + 1) > 0
)
insert #t
select substring(#param, f, t - f), seq from a
option (maxrecursion 0)
return
end
change this part:
AND a.RegionID IN (select val from dbo.f_split(#regionID, ','))
Change this for better overall performance:
AND DATEDIFF(d, 0, GETDATE()) <= ExpirationDate

Answer 2

Your query does not know that those are separate values, you can use dynamic sql for this:
DECLARE #RegionID varchar(200) = null
SET #RegionID = '853,834,16,467,841,460,495,44,859,457,437,836,864,434,86,838,458,472,832,433,142,154,159,839,831,469,442,275,840,299,446,220,300,225,227,447,301,450,230,837,441,835,302,477,855,411,395,279,303'
declare #sql nvarchar(Max)
set #sql = 'SELECT a.ClassAdID, -- 1
a.AdURL, -- 2
a.AdTitle, -- 3
a.ClassAdCatID, -- 4
b.ClassAdCat, -- 5
a.Img1, -- 6
a.AdText, -- 7
a.MemberID, -- 9
a.Viewed, -- 10
c.Domain, -- 11
a.CreateDate -- 12
FROM ClassAd a
INNER JOIN ClassAdCat b ON b.ClassAdCAtID = a.ClassAdCAtID
INNER JOIN Region c ON c.RegionID = a.RegionID
AND a.PostType = ''CPN''
AND DATEDIFF(d, GETDATE(), ExpirationDate) >= 0
AND a.RegionID IN ('+#RegionID+')
AND Viewable = ''Y'''
exec sp_executesql #sql

Answer 3

I use this apporach sometimes and find it very good.
It transfors your comma-separated string into an AUX table (called #ARRAY) and then query the main table based on the AUX table:
declare #RegionID varchar(50)
SET #RegionID = '853,834,16,467,841,460,495,44,859,457,437,836,864,434,86,838,458,472,832,433,142,154,159,839,831,469,442,275,840,299,446,220,300,225,227,447,301,450,230,837,441,835,302,477,855,411,395,279,303'
declare #S varchar(20)
if LEN(#RegionID) > 0 SET #RegionID = #RegionID + ','
CREATE TABLE #ARRAY(region_ID VARCHAR(20))
WHILE LEN(#RegionID) > 0 BEGIN
SELECT #S = LTRIM(SUBSTRING(#RegionID, 1, CHARINDEX(',', #RegionID) - 1))
INSERT INTO #ARRAY (region_ID) VALUES (#S)
SELECT #RegionID = SUBSTRING(#RegionID, CHARINDEX(',', #RegionID) + 1, LEN(#RegionID))
END
select * from your_table
where regionID IN (select region_ID from #ARRAY)
It avoids you from ahving to concatenate the query string and then use EXEC to execute it, which I dont think it is a very good approach.
if you need to run the code twice you will need to drop the temp table

Answer 4

I think the answer should be kept simple.
Try using CHARINDEX like this:
DECLARE #RegionID VARCHAR(200) = NULL
SET #RegionID =
'853,834,16,467,841,460,495,44,859,457,437,836,864,434,86,838,458,472,832,433,142,154,159,839,831,469,442,275,840,299,446,220,300,225,227,447,301,450,230,837,441,835,302,477,855,411,395,279,303'
SELECT 1
WHERE Charindex('834', #RegionID) > 0
SELECT 1
WHERE Charindex('999', #RegionID) > 0
When CHARINDEX finds the value in the large string variable, it will return it's position, otherwise it return 0.
Use this as a search tool.

Answer 5

The easiest way to change this query is to replace the IN function with a string function. Here is what I consider the safest approach using LIKE (which is portable among databases):
AND ','+#RegionID+',' like '%,'+cast(a.RegionID as varchar(255))+',%'
Or CHARINDEX:
AND charindex(','+cast(a.RegionID as varchar(255))+',', ','+#RegionID+',') > 0
However, if you are explicitly putting the list in your code, why not use a temporary table?
declare #RegionIds table (RegionId int);
insert into #RegionIds
select 853 union all
select 834 union all
. . .
select 303
Then you can use the table in the IN clause:
AND a.RegionId in (select RegionId from #RegionIds)
or in a JOIN clause.

Answer 6

I like Diego's answer some, but I think my modification is a little better because you are declaring a table variable and not creating an actual table. I know the "in" statement can be a little slow, so I did an inner join since I needed some info from the Company table anyway.
declare #companyIdList varchar(1000)
set #companyIdList = '1,2,3'
if LEN(#companyIdList) > 0 SET #companyIdList = #companyIdList + ','
declare #CompanyIds TABLE (CompanyId bigint)
declare #S varchar(20)
WHILE LEN(#companyIdList) > 0 BEGIN
SELECT #S = LTRIM(SUBSTRING(#companyIdList, 1, CHARINDEX(',', #companyIdList) - 1))
INSERT INTO #CompanyIds (CompanyId) VALUES (#S)
SELECT #companyIdList = SUBSTRING(#companyIdList, CHARINDEX(',', #companyIdList) + 1, LEN(#companyIdList))
END
select d.Id, d.Name, c.Id, c.Name
from [Division] d
inner join [Company] c on d.CompanyId = c.Id
inner join #CompanyIds cids on c.Id = cids.CompanyId