Define variable to use with IN operator (T-SQL)

Question

I have a Transact-SQL query that uses the IN operator. Something like this:

select * from myTable where myColumn in (1,2,3,4)

Is there a wa

Answer 1

DECLARE @mylist TABLE (Id int)
INSERT INTO @mylist
SELECT id FROM (VALUES (1),(2),(3),(4),(5)) AS tbl(id)

SELECT * FROM Mytable WHERE theColumn IN (select id from @mylist)

Answer 2

There are two ways to tackle dynamic csv lists for TSQL queries:

1) Using an inner select

SELECT * FROM myTable WHERE myColumn in (SELECT id FROM myIdTable WHERE id > 10)

2) Using dynamically concatenated TSQL

DECLARE @sql varchar(max)  
declare @list varchar(256)  
select @list = '1,2,3'  
SELECT @sql = 'SELECT * FROM myTable WHERE myColumn in (' + @list + ')'

exec sp_executeSQL @sql

3) A possible third option is table variables. If you have SQl Server 2005 you can use a table variable. If your on Sql Server 2008 you can even pass whole table variables in as a parameter to stored procedures and use it in a join or as a subselect in the IN clause.

DECLARE @list TABLE (Id INT)

INSERT INTO @list(Id)
SELECT 1 UNION ALL SELECT 2 UNION ALL SELECT 3 UNION ALL SELECT 4


SELECT
    * 
FROM 
    myTable
    JOIN @list l ON myTable.myColumn = l.Id

SELECT
    * 
FROM 
    myTable
WHERE
    myColumn IN (SELECT Id FROM @list)