Question

I have a SQL Server 2008 database. This database has a stored procedure that will update several records. The ids of these records are stored in a parameter that is passed in via a comma-delimited string. The property values associated with each of these ids are passed in via two other comma-delimited strings. It is assumed that the length (in terms of tokens) and the orders of the values are correct. For instance, the three strings may look like this:

Param1='1,2,3,4,5'
Param2='Bill,Jill,Phil,Will,Jack'
Param3='Smith,Li,Wong,Jos,Dee'

My challenge is, I’m not sure what the best way to actually go about parsing these three CSVs and updating the corresponding records are. I have access to a procedure named ConvertCSVtoTable, which converts a CSV to a temp table of records. So Param1 would return

1
2
3
4
5

after the procedure was called. I thought about a cursor, but then it seems to get really messy.

Can someone tell me/show me, what the best way to address this problem is?

Answer 1

I’d give some thought to reworking the inputs to your procedure. Since you’re running SQL 2008, my first choice would be to use a table-valued parameter. My second choice would be to pass the parameters as XML. Your current method, as you already know, is a real headache and is more error prone.