Most succinct way to transform a CSV string to an table in TSQL?

Question

-- Given a CSV string like this:

declare @roles varchar(800)
select  @roles = 'Pub,RegUser,ServiceAdmin'

-- Question: How to get roles into a table view like this:

select  'Pub'
union
select  'RegUser'
union
select  'ServiceAdmin'

---

After posting this, I started playing with some dynamic SQL. This seems to work, but seems like there might be some security risks by using dynamic SQL - thoughts on this?

declare @rolesSql varchar(800)
select  @rolesSql = 'select ''' + replace(@roles, ',', ''' union select ''') + ''''
exec(@rolesSql)

Answer 1

Here's a thorough discussion of your options:

• Arrays and Lists in SQL Server

Answer 2

Using BULK INSERT you can import a csv file into your sql table -

http://blog.sqlauthority.com/2008/02/06/sql-server-import-csv-file-into-sql-server-using-bulk-insert-load-comma-delimited-file-into-sql-server/

Answer 3

See my answer from here

But basically you would:

Create this function in your DB:

CREATE FUNCTION dbo.Split(@origString varchar(max), @Delimiter char(1))     
returns @temptable TABLE (items varchar(max))     
as     
begin     
    declare @idx int     
    declare @split varchar(max)     

    select @idx = 1     
        if len(@origString )<1 or @origString is null  return     

    while @idx!= 0     
    begin     
        set @idx = charindex(@Delimiter,@origString)     
        if @idx!=0     
            set @split= left(@origString,@idx - 1)     
        else     
            set @split= @origString

        if(len(@split)>0)
            insert into @temptable(Items) values(@split)     

        set @origString= right(@origString,len(@origString) - @idx)     
        if len(@origString) = 0 break     
    end 
return     
end

and then call the function and pass in the string you want to split.

Select dbo.Split(@roles, ',')