How to split a string in T-SQL?

Question

I have a varchar @a='a|b|c|d|e|f|g|h|i|j|k|l|m|n|o|p', which has | delimited values. I want to split this variable in a array or a table.

How can I do this?

Answer 1

Use a table valued function like this,

CREATE FUNCTION Splitfn(@String varchar(8000), @Delimiter char(1))       
returns @temptable TABLE (items varchar(8000))       
as       
begin       
    declare @idx int       
    declare @slice varchar(8000)       

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

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

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

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

end

and get your variable and use this function like this,

SELECT i.items FROM dbo.Splitfn(@a,'|') AS i