SQL Query Into Delimited String In Stored Procedure

Question

I have the table:

CREATE TABLE [address_tabletype] (
[CONTROL_NUMBER] [varchar](12) NULL,
[ADDRESS1] [varchar](50) NULL,
[ADDRESS2] [varchar](50) NULL,
[CITY] [varchar](50) NULL,
[STATE] [varchar](2) NULL,
[ZIP] [varchar](10) NULL
)
GO

and, say I have the following rows:

2506387 1   2   3   4   5
2506394 1   2   3   4   5
2506403 1   2   3   4   5

I would like to to look like:

2506387|1|2|3|4|5~2506394|1|2|3|4|5~2506403|1|2|3|4|5

I haven't tried anything because I honestly have no idea where to start.

I am using SQL Server 2008 R2, and will be using a temp table to build this string.

EDIT

I am using this to pass to a 3rd party CLR Function that absolutely needs a delimited string in this fashion. I planned to send it over to the function, return it to the SP, break it down to its original form, and then return the results to the caller of the SP.

Thank you.

Answer 1

Try following:

SELECT STUFF((select (
    SELECT  '~' + (
        CONTROL_NUMBER+'|'+
        ADDRESS1 +'|'+
        ADDRESS2 + '|'+
        CITY + '|'+
        [States] + '|'+
        ZIP)
    FROM address_tabletype
    FOR XML PATH(''), type
    ).value('text()[1]', 'varchar(max)')), 1, 1, '')

Answer 2

Basically I would use something like this in your SP:

declare your temp table variable like, note add all the fields you want to it:

declare @rowsToConcat table ([ID] int identity(1,1),[CONTROL_NUMBER] varchar(12), ...repeat for all of your fields)

insert into @rowsToConcat
    select * from [address_tabletype]
declare @loopcnt int
declare @concat_output as varchar(1000)
set @loopcnt = 1
while(@loopcnt < (select max([ID]) from @rowsToConcat))
begin
    select @concat_output = @concat_output + [CONTROL_NUMBER] + '|' + [..all other fields] + '~'
    from @rowsToConcat 
    where [ID] = @loopcnt
    set @loopcnt = @loopcnt+1
end

Just typed this without testing here, I did not fill in all your fields but put ..all other fields for you to repeat. I use this technique a lot works for me. Also haven't tested but you may want to make @concat_output a varchar(max) if you don't know how many results to expect.