Is it possible to compare comma delimited string in T-SQL without looping?

Question

Let\'s say I have 2 tables where both has column called Brand. The value is comma delimited so for example if one of the table has

ACER,ASUS,HP  
         


        

Answer 1

You are correct in wanting to step away from the loop.

Since you are on 2012, String_Split() is off the table. However, there are any number of split/parse TVF functions in-the-wild.

Example 1 - without a TVF

Declare @T1 table (Brand varchar(50))
Insert Into @T1 values 
('ACER,ASUS,HP'),
('AMD,NVIDIA,SONY')

Declare @T2 table (Brand varchar(50))
Insert Into @T2 values 
('HP,GIGABYTE'),
('MICROSOFT'),
('SAMSUNG,PHILIPS')


Select Distinct
       T1_Brand = A.Brand
      ,T2_Brand = B.Brand
 From ( 
        Select Brand,B.*
         From  @T1
         Cross Apply (
                        Select RetVal = LTrim(RTrim(B.i.value('(./text())[1]', 'varchar(max)')))
                        From  (Select x = Cast('<x>' + replace(Brand,',','</x><x>')+'</x>' as xml)) as A 
                        Cross Apply x.nodes('x') AS B(i)
                     ) B
      ) A
 Join ( 
        Select Brand,B.*
         From  @T2
         Cross Apply (
                        Select RetVal = LTrim(RTrim(B.i.value('(./text())[1]', 'varchar(max)')))
                        From  (Select x = Cast('<x>' + replace(Brand,',','</x><x>')+'</x>' as xml)) as A 
                        Cross Apply x.nodes('x') AS B(i)
                     ) B
      ) B
 on A.RetVal=B.RetVal

Example 2 - with a TVF

Select Distinct
       T1_Brand = A.Brand
      ,T2_Brand = B.Brand
 From ( 
        Select Brand,B.*
         From  @T1
         Cross Apply [dbo].[tvf-Str-Parse](Brand,',') B
      ) A
 Join ( 
        Select Brand,B.*
         From  @T2
         Cross Apply [dbo].[tvf-Str-Parse](Brand,',') B
      ) B
 on A.RetVal=B.RetVal

Both Would Return

T1_Brand        T2_Brand
ACER,ASUS,HP    HP,GIGABYTE

The UDF if interested

CREATE FUNCTION [dbo].[tvf-Str-Parse] (@String varchar(max),@Delimiter varchar(10))
Returns Table 
As
Return (  
    Select RetSeq = Row_Number() over (Order By (Select null))
          ,RetVal = LTrim(RTrim(B.i.value('(./text())[1]', 'varchar(max)')))
    From  (Select x = Cast('<x>' + replace((Select replace(@String,@Delimiter,'§§Split§§') as [*] For XML Path('')),'§§Split§§','</x><x>')+'</x>' as xml).query('.')) as A 
    Cross Apply x.nodes('x') AS B(i)
);
--Thanks Shnugo for making this XML safe
--Select * from [dbo].[tvf-Str-Parse]('Dog,Cat,House,Car',',')
--Select * from [dbo].[tvf-Str-Parse]('John Cappelletti was here',' ')
--Select * from [dbo].[tvf-Str-Parse]('this,is,<test>,for,< & >',',')

Answer 2

Had the same problem with comparing "," delimited strings

you can use "XML" to do that and compare the outputs and return the same/different value:

declare  @TestInput nvarchar(255)
, @TestInput2 nvarchar(255)

set @TestInput = 'ACER,ASUS,HP'
set @TestInput2 = 'HP,GIGABYTE'



;WITH FirstStringSplit(S1) AS
(
 SELECT CAST('<x>' + REPLACE(@TestInput,',','</x><x>') + '</x>' AS XML)
)
,SecondStringSplit(S2) AS
(
SELECT CAST('<x>' + REPLACE(@TestInput2,',','</x><x>') + '</x>' AS XML)
 )

 SELECT STUFF(
 (
SELECT ',' + part1.value('.','nvarchar(max)')
FROM FirstStringSplit
CROSS APPLY S1.nodes('/x') AS A(part1)
WHERE part1.value('.','nvarchar(max)') IN(SELECT B.part2.value('.','nvarchar(max)')
                                              FROM SecondStringSplit 
                                              CROSS APPLY S2.nodes('/x') AS B(part2)
                                              ) 
FOR XML PATH('')
),1,1,'') as [Same Value]

Edit:

Changed 'Stuff' to 'XML'