Eirikur Eiriksson (12/18/2016)

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Jeff Moden (12/18/2016)

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You just can't believe all the examples I've been through in the last 24 hours never mind the ones I've seen over the last decade or so. I've NEVER seen mention of "CDATA" anywhere before. Thanks Eirikur.

You are very welcome Jeff and I'm glad I could help. I don't find this hard to believe, unfortunately there are many myths to be debunked when it comes to the subject of XML in SQL Server and the majority of examples out there come from few sources with relatively little value added content, kind of "if it works then it's good enough".

😎

That does bring up another question, though. I'm nearly a total idiot when it comes to XML usage in SQL Server especially when it comes to playing it against a whole column XML in a table. I have to bite the bloody bullet and learn it, especially how it should be/can be used in SQL Server.

As far as I've seen from your input here on SqlServerCentral, you are above the average which (and don't take any offence here) is apallingly low. There are only about a handful of regulars here which have a good understanding of XML/XQuery, something that is apparent when looking at the responders on the XML thread on the forum.

I've seen it before... you seem to handle XML in SQL almost by second nature. Can you make a recommendation as to some good places/books to study XML in T-SQL that actually do explain things like why you need a "name space" line in some cases and not others or even what it actually is and does. I need something that starts out with the basics like when and how to use "@" instead of something else (I know it works with entities rather than elements but don't know how to use such things when shredding an entire column or even a single blob).

And, much like T-SQL, I'd eventually like to get to where you're at with XML where someone asks a question and you go "sure... no problem... all you need to do is add this to your code and you're done".

And very well done on that. Thanks again for the timely and accurate help, Eirikur.

Again Jeff, very happy to help, just as you have done countless of times. I've put down few good resources, unfortunately I don't have many, probably time for me to finish some of the articles and the book I've started on the subject, the latter being a subject to finding the right publisher and of course the time;-).

Resources:

XQuery Implementation in a Relational Database System

http://courses.washington.edu/info445/docs/old08/p1175-pal.pdf

This whitepaper is an essential read as it builds the foundation knowledge of XML XQuery implementation on the SQL Server platform.

XML Standards Library

http://schemas.liquid-technologies.com/

Very good reference to various XML standards

Pro SQL Server 2008 XML

https://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=Pro+SQL+Server+2008+XML

One of the very few books on the subject, it is fine but cannot class it as essential.

O'Reilly's XML.com

http://www.xml.com

Many good readings on the subject.

Dr Dobb's XML & Relational Databases

http://www.drdobbs.com/database/xml-relational-databases/184405339

Good article on XML in relational databases.

Stairway to XML

http://www.sqlservercentral.com/stairway/92778/

Collection of 10 good articles on XML in SQL Server, Rob Sheldon does a very good job here but the only downside I see is the absence of the performance perspective.

XQuery Tutorial

http://www.w3schools.com/xml/xquery_intro.asp

Quite extensive collection of XQuery tutorials, most of the stuff here will work fine on SQL Server 2005 and later.