How do I use a comma separated list of values as a filter in T-SQL?

Question

I have a basic SQL query, starting with:

SELECT top 20 application_id, [name], location_id FROM apps

Now, I would like to finish it so that it

Answer 1

One way is to split the string on the commas, strip out the spaces and insert the values into a temporary table. Then you can join your query against the temp table.

This is a T-SQL code snippet that splits a comma-separated list and inserts the members into a temporary table. Once you've populated the table you can join against it.

-- This bit splits up a comma separated list of key columns
-- and inserts them in order into a table. 
--
if object_id ('tempdb..#KeyCols') is not null
    drop table #KeyCols

create table #KeyCols (
      ,KeyCol           nvarchar (100)
)

set @comma_pos = 0
set @len = len(@KeyCols)
while @len > 0 begin
    set @comma_pos = charindex(',', @KeyCols)
    if @comma_pos = 0 begin
        set @KeyCol = @KeyCols
        set @KeyCols = ''
    end else begin
        set @KeyCol = left (@KeyCols, @comma_pos - 1)
        set @KeyCols = substring(@KeyCols, 
                                 @comma_pos + 1, 
                                 len (@KeyCols) - @comma_pos)
    end
    insert #KeyCols (KeyCol)
    values (@KeyCol)
    set @len = len (@KeyCols)
end