Question

I am running the below query to extract data from an xml column…question is how to extract data that is in between ![CDATA[“”]] ?

select        
     CAST(xml as xml).value('(//@nodeName)[1]','nvarchar(20)') as NodeName,       
     CAST(xml as xml).value('(//![CDATA [prdDetDesc]])[1]','nvarchar(225)') as DetDesc,
     CAST(xml as xml).value('(//prdImg)[1]','nvarchar(1000)') as prdImage
from [dbo].[cmsContentXml])

I need to extract data that is present between [[“”]]

Thanks in advance

Answer 1

There is nothing special with CDATA sections.

declare @xml xml = 
'<productDetailsDescription>
   <![CDATA[Candidates for this exam are professionals who typically pursue careers as database administrators, database developers, or business intelligence developers. Additionally, they can be people who do not work with Microsoft SQL Server as a part of their primary job functions but who want to show their breadth of technology experience, such as developers, systems administrators, and others. ]]>
 </productDetailsDescription>
 <productImage>/m/967558/40.jpg</productImage>
 <application>Slmnoasp</application>'
 
select @xml.value('/productDetailsDescription[1]', 'nvarchar(225)')

It also handles mixed values.

declare @xml xml = 
'<root>123<![CDATA[ABD]]>456</root>'  
 
select @xml.value('/root[1]', 'nvarchar(10)')

Result:

(No column name)
123ABD456

Edit

From a table instead of a variable with a cast to XML:

select cast(xml as xml).value('/productDetailsDescription[1]', 'nvarchar(max)') as productDetailsDescription
from YourTable

Try it here: https://data.stackexchange.com/stackoverflow/q/108293/

Edit 2

You need to specify the node names in the query. You also have to decide if you should have the different nodes in the same column or if they should be in different columns. Below I show you how you can do both.

declare @T table(xml nvarchar(max))

insert into @T values
('<productDetailsDescription>
   <![CDATA[Candidates for this exam are professionals who typically pursue careers as database administrators, database developers, or business intelligence developers. Additionally, they can be people who do not work with Microsoft SQL Server as a part of their primary job functions but who want to show their breadth of technology experience, such as developers, systems administrators, and others. ]]>
 </productDetailsDescription>
 <productImage>/m/967558/40.jpg</productImage>
 <application>Slmnoasp</application>')

insert into @T values
('<detailDescription>
   <![CDATA[Candidates for this exam are professionals who typically pursue careers as database administrators, database developers, or business intelligence developers. Additionally, they can be people who do not work with Microsoft SQL Server as a part of their primary job functions but who want to show their breadth of technology experience, such as developers, systems administrators, and others. ]]>
 </detailDescription>
 <productImage>/m/967558/40.jpg</productImage>
 <application>Slmnoasp</application>')

-- Get detailDescription in a column of its own
select 
  cast(xml as xml).value('/productDetailsDescription[1]', 'nvarchar(max)') as productDetailsDescription,
  cast(xml as xml).value('/detailDescription[1]', 'nvarchar(max)') as detailDescription
from @T

-- Get detailDescription in the same column as productDetailsDescription
select 
  cast(xml as xml).value('/*[local-name()=("productDetailsDescription","detailDescription")][1]', 'nvarchar(max)') as detailDescription
from @T