getting concatenated data with a self join

  • I've got a table that I'm trying to query with a self join that I must not be doing correctly. Any help would be greatly appreciated. The table looks something like below:

    A B C

    1 x 1

    1 y 1

    2 z 1

    3 a 2

    3 b null

    3 c 2

    4 d null

    what I'm trying to pull out is for all unique column A values, a second column with the values in B concatenated if C is not null, so the result set for the above data would be:

    1 xy

    2 z

    3 ac

    hopefully that makes sense, and thanks in advance for your help!

  • You should provide sample code for next time

    but after some scratching my head, I have to resolve to XML method (can be used in SQL2005 so should work for you)

    Customize to your situation

    -- Jerry Hung

    SET XACT_ABORT, NOCOUNT ON

    DECLARE @test TABLE (

    A VARCHAR(10),

    B VARCHAR(10),

    C VARCHAR(10)

    )

    INSERT INTO @test

    SELECT'1','x','1'

    UNION ALL

    SELECT'1','y','1'

    UNION ALL

    SELECT'2','z','1'

    UNION ALL

    SELECT'3','a','2'

    UNION ALL

    SELECT'3','b',NULL

    UNION ALL

    SELECT'3','c','2'

    UNION ALL

    SELECT'4','d',NULL

    --SELECT * FROM @test

    /*

    A B C

    1 x 1

    1 y 1

    2 z 1

    3 a 2

    3 b null

    3 c 2

    4 d null

    */

    SELECT

    T1.A

    ,Test=

    REPLACE((

    SELECT B [data()] FROM @test T3

    WHERE T3.A=T1.A

    AND T3.C IS NOT NULL

    FOR XML PATH('')

    ), ' ', '')

    FROM @test T1

    WHERE T1.C IS NOT NULL

    GROUP BY T1.A

    /*

    1 xy

    2 z

    3 ac

    */

    SQLServerNewbieMCITP: Database Administrator SQL Server 2005
  • ... and please see the following article for some potential problems you can avoid with some other methods of concatenation...

    http://www.sqlservercentral.com/articles/Test+Data/61572/

    Jerry's method does not have such problems.

    --Jeff Moden


    RBAR is pronounced "ree-bar" and is a "Modenism" for Row-By-Agonizing-Row.
    First step towards the paradigm shift of writing Set Based code:
    ________Stop thinking about what you want to do to a ROW... think, instead, of what you want to do to a COLUMN.

    Change is inevitable... Change for the better is not.


    Helpful Links:
    How to post code problems
    How to Post Performance Problems
    Create a Tally Function (fnTally)

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