Question

I have the following (highly simplified) XML document that I am reading into my database using the OPENXML function:

<root>
    <row>
        <bar>123</bar>
    </row>
    <row>
        <bar>0</bar>
    </row>
    <row>
        <bar></bar>
    </row>
</root>

I am importing in into the database like so:

insert into [Foo]
    ([bar])
select
    ds.[bar]
from openxml(@xmlHandle, 'root/row', 2)
with ([bar] int) ds

The problem is that OPENXML converts empty fields with the int data type to zero, so this gets inserted into my table:

bar
----
123
0
0

What I want inserted into my table is:

bar
----
123
0
NULL

How do I get the OPENXML function to treat empty fields as NULL and not convert it to zero by default?

Answer 1

Since no one has any ideas, here is how I am “solving” it, though it seems like a hack to me:

insert into [Foo]
    ([bar])
select
    isnull(ds.[bar], '') when '' then null else CAST(ds.[bar] as int) end
from openxml(@xmlHandle, 'root/row', 2)
with ([bar] nvarchar(20)) ds