How to split a comma-separated value to columns

Question

I have a table like this

Value   String
-------------------
1       Cleo, Smith

I want to separate the comma delimited string into two colu

Answer 1

I re-wrote an answer above and made it better:

CREATE FUNCTION [dbo].[CSVParser]
(
  @s        VARCHAR(255),
  @idx      NUMERIC
)
RETURNS VARCHAR(12)
BEGIN
    DECLARE @comma int
    SET @comma = CHARINDEX(',', @s)
    WHILE 1=1
    BEGIN
        IF @comma=0
            IF @idx=1
                RETURN @s
            ELSE
                RETURN ''

        IF @idx=1
        BEGIN
            DECLARE @word VARCHAR(12)
            SET @word=LEFT(@s, @comma - 1)
            RETURN @word
        END

        SET @s = RIGHT(@s,LEN(@s)-@comma)
        SET @comma = CHARINDEX(',', @s)
        SET @idx = @idx - 1
    END
    RETURN 'not used'
END

Example usage:

SELECT dbo.CSVParser(COLUMN, 1),
       dbo.CSVParser(COLUMN, 2),
       dbo.CSVParser(COLUMN, 3)
FROM   TABLE

Answer 2

xml base answer is simple and clean

refer this

DECLARE @S varchar(max),
        @Split char(1),
        @X xml

SELECT @S = 'ab,cd,ef,gh,ij',
       @Split = ','

SELECT @X = CONVERT(xml,' <root> <myvalue>' +
REPLACE(@S,@Split,'</myvalue> <myvalue>') + '</myvalue>   </root> ')

SELECT  T.c.value('.','varchar(20)'),              --retrieve ALL values at once
  T.c.value('(/root/myvalue)[1]','VARCHAR(20)')  , --retrieve index 1 only, which is the 'ab'
  T.c.value('(/root/myvalue)[2]','VARCHAR(20)')
 FROM @X.nodes('/root/myvalue') T(c)

Answer 3

I encountered a similar problem but a complex one and since this is the first thread i found regarding that issue i decided to post my finding. i know it is complex solution to a simple problem but i hope that i could help other people who go to this thread looking for a more complex solution. i had to split a string containing 5 numbers (column name: levelsFeed) and to show each number in a separate column. for example: 8,1,2,2,2 should be shown as :

1  2  3  4  5
-------------
8  1  2  2  2

Solution 1: using XML functions: this solution for the slowest solution by far

SELECT Distinct FeedbackID, 
, S.a.value('(/H/r)[1]', 'INT') AS level1
, S.a.value('(/H/r)[2]', 'INT') AS level2
, S.a.value('(/H/r)[3]', 'INT') AS level3
, S.a.value('(/H/r)[4]', 'INT') AS level4
, S.a.value('(/H/r)[5]', 'INT') AS level5
FROM (            
    SELECT *,CAST (N'<H><r>' + REPLACE(levelsFeed, ',', '</r><r>')  + '</r> </H>' AS XML) AS [vals]
    FROM Feedbacks 
)  as d
CROSS APPLY d.[vals].nodes('/H/r') S(a)

Solution 2: using Split function and pivot. (the split function split a string to rows with the column name Data)

SELECT FeedbackID, [1],[2],[3],[4],[5]
FROM (
    SELECT *, ROW_NUMBER() OVER (PARTITION BY feedbackID ORDER BY (SELECT  null)) as rn 
FROM (
    SELECT FeedbackID, levelsFeed
    FROM Feedbacks 
) as a
CROSS APPLY dbo.Split(levelsFeed, ',')
) as SourceTable
PIVOT
(
    MAX(data)
    FOR rn IN ([1],[2],[3],[4],[5])
)as pivotTable

Solution 3: using string manipulations functions - fastest by small margin over solution 2

SELECT FeedbackID,
SUBSTRING(levelsFeed,0,CHARINDEX(',',levelsFeed)) AS level1,
PARSENAME(REPLACE(SUBSTRING(levelsFeed,CHARINDEX(',',levelsFeed)+1,LEN(levelsFeed)),',','.'),4) AS level2,
PARSENAME(REPLACE(SUBSTRING(levelsFeed,CHARINDEX(',',levelsFeed)+1,LEN(levelsFeed)),',','.'),3) AS level3,
PARSENAME(REPLACE(SUBSTRING(levelsFeed,CHARINDEX(',',levelsFeed)+1,LEN(levelsFeed)),',','.'),2) AS level4,
PARSENAME(REPLACE(SUBSTRING(levelsFeed,CHARINDEX(',',levelsFeed)+1,LEN(levelsFeed)),',','.'),1) AS level5
FROM Feedbacks

since the levelsFeed contains 5 string values i needed to use the substring function for the first string.

i hope that my solution will help other that got to this thread looking for a more complex split to columns methods

Answer 4

Using instring function :)

select Value, 
       substring(String,1,instr(String," ") -1) Fname,  
       substring(String,instr(String,",") +1) Sname 
from tablename;

Used two functions,
1. substring(string, position, length) ==> returns string from positon to length
2. instr(string,pattern) ==> returns position of pattern.

If we don’t provide length argument in substring it returns until end of string

Answer 5

CREATE FUNCTION [dbo].[fn_split_string_to_column] (
    @string NVARCHAR(MAX),
    @delimiter CHAR(1)
    )
RETURNS @out_put TABLE (
    [column_id] INT IDENTITY(1, 1) NOT NULL,
    [value] NVARCHAR(MAX)
    )
AS
BEGIN
    DECLARE @value NVARCHAR(MAX),
        @pos INT = 0,
        @len INT = 0

    SET @string = CASE 
            WHEN RIGHT(@string, 1) != @delimiter
                THEN @string + @delimiter
            ELSE @string
            END

    WHILE CHARINDEX(@delimiter, @string, @pos + 1) > 0
    BEGIN
        SET @len = CHARINDEX(@delimiter, @string, @pos + 1) - @pos
        SET @value = SUBSTRING(@string, @pos, @len)

        INSERT INTO @out_put ([value])
        SELECT LTRIM(RTRIM(@value)) AS [column]

        SET @pos = CHARINDEX(@delimiter, @string, @pos + @len) + 1
    END

    RETURN
END

Answer 6

With CROSS APPLY

select ParsedData.* 
from MyTable mt
cross apply ( select str = mt.String + ',,' ) f1
cross apply ( select p1 = charindex( ',', str ) ) ap1
cross apply ( select p2 = charindex( ',', str, p1 + 1 ) ) ap2
cross apply ( select Nmame = substring( str, 1, p1-1 )                   
                 , Surname = substring( str, p1+1, p2-p1-1 )
          ) ParsedData