# cursor to split the column # - sql

Question

I have a table
WS_ID WS_WEBPAGE_ID WS_SPONSORS_ID WS_STATUS WS_CREATEDTS
2 3 2 N 2012-06-07 15:32:00
3 3 3 N 2012-06-07 15:37:00
4 3 4 Y 2012-06-07 15:41:00
5 1 1 Y 2012-06-07 16:05:00
6 2 1 Y 2012-06-07 16:05:00
7 2 4 Y 2012-06-07 16:05:00
8 4 1 Y 2012-06-07 16:05:00
9 1 3 Y 2012-06-07 16:05:00
10 1 2 Y 2012-06-07 16:05:00
11 1 4 Y 2012-06-07 16:05:00
12 2 3 Y 2012-06-07 16:05:00
13 2 3 Y 2012-06-07 16:05:00
14 2 1 Y 2012-06-07 16:05:00
24706 3 8,7,9,5,5 NULL NULL
I wrote a cursor and calling the split function in to that cursor to split the last record
Declare #splitc varchar(250)
Declare splitcursor cursor for
select ws_sponsors_id from dbo.TBL_WD_SPONSORS
open splitcursor
fetch next from splitcursor into #splitc
while(##FETCH_STATUS = 0)
begin
print '#splitcursor'
--select * from dbo.Comma_Split(#ws_sponsors_id,',')
select dbo.Comma_Split(ws_sponsors_id,',') from dbo.TBL_WD_SPONSORS where ws_id = 24706
--select * from dbo.TBL_WD_SPONSORS where WS_SPONSORS_ID in(select * from dbo.Comma_Split(ws_sponsors_id,','))
fetch next from splitcursor into #splitc
end
close splitcursor
deallocate splitcursor
And I am getting the Error
Cannot find either column "dbo" or the user-defined function or aggregate "dbo.Comma_Split", or the name is ambiguous.
WS_ID WS_WEBPAGE_ID WS_SPONSORS_ID WS_STATUS WS_CREATEDTS
24706 3 8,7,9,5,5 NULL NULL
But I need the Output
WS_ID WS_WEBPAGE_ID WS_SPONSORS_ID WS_STATUS WS_CREATEDTS
24706 3 8 NULL NULL
24707 3 7 NULL NULL
24708 3 9 NULL NULL
24709 3 5 NULL NULL
24710 3 5 NULL NULL
How to get the Output
Help me out.

Answer 1

Why not re-architect your tables so you only have 1 value entered in your WS_SPONSORS_ID column so it's a foreign-key relationship, then you wouldn't have to do this split function.

Answer 2

It looks like the function you're trying to use does not exist on the database you're running it on. For instance, try this and you'll get the same error:
SELECT dbo.This_Function_Most_Certainly_Doesnt_Exist('Unless you''re trying to break my example.')
This will prove if it is there or not so that you don't have to take my word for it. Run this on the database that you're running your cursor based query on:
SELECT * FROM INFORMATION_SCHEMA.ROUTINES R WHERE R.ROUTINE_NAME = 'Comma_Split'
If you don't get any rows back, that is because the function doesn't exist there. Either you're on the wrong database, the wrong version, you need to run the CREATE FUNCTION on it, or something like that.
EDIT: By the way, as for how to solve the actual problem: Don't use a cursor. A cursor is used as a form of iteration over a data result set. In your cursor you're selecting the value for a single row:
select dbo.Comma_Split(ws_sponsors_id,',') from dbo.TBL_WD_SPONSORS where ws_id = 24706
The way you have it, you'd call that function, on that row, once for every row on the table. Here's a good example of a split function: http://praveenbattula.blogspot.com/2010/06/best-split-udf-function-with-delimeter.html
Using that you would just need to write:
SELECT dbo.fnStringSplitter(ws_sponsors_id, ',') FROM dbo.TBL_WT_SPONSORS WHERE ws_id = 24706