Split Any Delimited String in SQL

PIEBALDconsult

Rate me:

4.83/5 (3 votes)

11 Sep 2015CPOL

This is an alternative for "Split Any Delimited String in SQL"

It's still not a very good solution ("any" is most inaccurate), but here's a Recursive Common Table Expression way to do it.

SQL

Copy Code

CREATE FUNCTION dbo.fnSimpleSplit 
( @InputString NVARCHAR(MAX)
, @Delimiter   NCHAR(1)
)
RETURNS TABLE 
AS
RETURN 
(
  -- SELECT * FROM dbo.fnSimpleSplit ( 'Apple, Mango, Orange, Pineapple' , ',' )

  WITH cte AS
  (
    SELECT CAST(NULL AS NVARCHAR(MAX)) val , @InputString + @Delimiter s , CHARINDEX(@Delimiter,@InputString) offset
  UNION ALL
    SELECT SUBSTRING(s,1,offset-1) , SUBSTRING(s,offset+1,LEN(s)) , CHARINDEX(@Delimiter,s,offset+1)-offset
    FROM cte
    WHERE offset>0
  )
  SELECT val
  FROM cte
  WHERE val IS NOT NULL
)

License

This article, along with any associated source code and files, is licensed under The Code Project Open License (CPOL)

About the Author

PIEBALDconsult

	Software Developer (Senior)
	United States

BSCS 1992 Wentworth Institute of Technology

Originally from the Boston (MA) area. Lived in SoCal for a while. Now in the Phoenix (AZ) area.

OpenVMS enthusiast, ISO 8601 evangelist, photographer, opinionated SOB, acknowledged pedant and contrarian

---------------

"I would be looking for better tekkies, too. Yours are broken." -- Paul Pedant

"Using fewer technologies is better than using more." -- Rico Mariani

"Good code is its own best documentation. As you’re about to add a comment, ask yourself, ‘How can I improve the code so that this comment isn’t needed?’" -- Steve McConnell

"Every time you write a comment, you should grimace and feel the failure of your ability of expression." -- Unknown

"If you need help knowing what to think, let me know and I'll tell you." -- Jeffrey Snover [MSFT]

"Typing is no substitute for thinking." -- R.W. Hamming

"I find it appalling that you can become a programmer with less training than it takes to become a plumber." -- Bjarne Stroustrup

ZagNut’s Law: Arrogance is inversely proportional to ability.

"Well blow me sideways with a plastic marionette. I've just learned something new - and if I could award you a 100 for that post I would. Way to go you keyboard lovegod you." -- Pete O'Hanlon

"linq'ish" sounds like "inept" in German -- Andreas Gieriet

"Things would be different if I ran the zoo." -- Dr. Seuss

"Wrong is evil, and it must be defeated." –- Jeff Ello

"A good designer must rely on experience, on precise, logical thinking, and on pedantic exactness." -- Nigel Shaw

“It’s always easier to do it the hard way.” -- Blackhart

“If Unix wasn’t so bad that you can’t give it away, Bill Gates would never have succeeded in selling Windows.” -- Blackhart

"Use vertical and horizontal whitespace generously. Generally, all binary operators except '.' and '->' should be separated from their operands by blanks."

"Omit needless local variables." -- Strunk... had he taught programming

Comments and Discussions

A Possible Alternative

David A. Gray14-Sep-15 9:10

David A. Gray

14-Sep-15 9:10

It seems to me that string splitting is the sort of activity that begs for implementation as an extended stored procedure. A great starting point for one would be my AnyCSV class library, described and published, with source code, in A Robust CSV Reader.

Rather than tackle a whole file full of delimited strings, this class confines itself to robust processing of single strings. The name, AnyCSV, is a tad misleading, because it handles any delimited string, although the defaults are geared towards standard CSV strings. Limiting it to processing one string makes this class ideal for use in situations that require processing a one-off string, as you might encounter in a stored procedure. On the other hand, it can just as easily be embedded in a loop or using block to process the records read from a stream.

Moreover, you have a choice of using static methods that include overrides that permit all of the operating parameters that govern its behavior to be overridden, or an instance that stores values for all of the parameters that should remain unchanged throughout the processing of a set of strings, such as the contents of a file. Storing the parameters in an instance makes calling the instance Parse method trivial; the only parameter is the string to be processed.

Regardless of how you use it, the parser returns an array of System.String objects, easily marshaled into native SQL Server strings. If I had a need for such a thing, the ESP would already exist. Wink | ;)

Re: A Possible Alternative

PIEBALDconsult14-Sep-15 17:37

PIEBALDconsult

14-Sep-15 17:37

I agree. It's not a reasonable task for the database. Better to do it before saving to the database.

Re: A Possible Alternative

David A. Gray15-Sep-15 12:14

David A. Gray

15-Sep-15 12:14

I assume this was a case of necessity being the mother of your invention.

Re: A Possible Alternative

PIEBALDconsult15-Sep-15 12:29

PIEBALDconsult

15-Sep-15 12:29

No, just a response to the Tip I made this an alternative to.

Re: A Possible Alternative

David A. Gray15-Sep-15 12:55

David A. Gray

15-Sep-15 12:55

OK.

Re: A Possible Alternative

Jovan Popovic(MSFT)16-Sep-15 4:23

Jovan Popovic(MSFT)

16-Sep-15 4:23

Another alternative that will be available in Sql Server 2016/Azure Db:

SELECT value FROM OPENJSON('[1,4,6,9]')

You just need to surround it with brackets. Unfortunately it will work only for comma separated strings.
OPENJSON[^]

Re: A Possible Alternative

PIEBALDconsult16-Sep-15 5:20

PIEBALDconsult

16-Sep-15 5:20

Ah, well, I'd use XML. Big Grin | :-D