Question

This code:

SomeField + ' <' + cast(count(AnotherField) as varchar(6)) + '>'

Generates the following result in the grid view:

Blah <Blah2>

How can I ensure the HTML entities show as their character equivalents? I’m surprised I wasn’t able to find a Google answer.

Thanks.

Here’s a larger snippet:

select
   stuff((
      select
         ', ' + SomeField + ' <' + cast(count(AnotherField) as varchar(6)) + '>'
      from
         SomeTable as SomeAbbrev
      where
         SomeField = SomeOutsideField
      group by
         SomeField
      order by
         SomeField asc
      for xml path('')
   ),1,1,'') SomeFields
from
   blablabla
inner join
   blablabla
left join
   blablabla
left join
   blablabla
order by
   SomeDateField asc

Answer 1

You can look at the technique used here or it may be simpler to bypass the XML technique all together and try something like the example below.

This example returns all tables with their columns as a comma delimited string.

create function dbo.ColumnString(@table_id int)
returns nvarchar(max)
as
begin
    declare @x nvarchar(max)

    select @x = coalesce(@x+',','') + c.name
        from sys.columns c
        where c.object_id = @table_id
        order by c.name

    return @x
end
go

select t.name, dbo.ColumnString(t.object_id)
    from sys.tables t
    where t.type = 'U'
    order by t.name

drop function dbo.ColumnString