TYPE string_aa IS TABLE OF VARCHAR2(32767) INDEX BY PLS_INTEGER;
FUNCTION string_to_list(p_string_in IN VARCHAR2)
RETURN string_aa
IS
TYPE ref_cursor IS ref cursor;
l_cur ref_cursor;
l_strlist string_aa;
l_x PLS_INTEGER;
BEGIN
IF p_string_in IS NOT NULL THEN
OPEN l_cur FOR
SELECT regexp_substr(p_string_in,'[^,]+', 1, level) FROM dual
CONNECT BY regexp_substr(p_string_in, '[^,]+', 1, level) IS NOT NULL;
l_x := 1;
LOOP
FETCH l_cur INTO l_strlist(l_x);
EXIT WHEN l_cur%notfound;
-- excludes NULL items e.g. 1,2,,,,5,6,7
l_x := l_x + 1;
END LOOP;
END IF;
RETURN l_strlist;
END string_to_list;
A quick search on my BBDD took me to a function called split:
create or replace function split
(
p_list varchar2,
p_del varchar2 := ','
)
return split_tbl pipelined
is
l_idx pls_integer;
l_list varchar2(32767) := p_list;AA
l_value varchar2(32767);
begin
loop
l_idx := instr(l_list,p_del);
if l_idx > 0 then
pipe row(substr(l_list,1,l_idx-1));
l_list := substr(l_list,l_idx+length(p_del));
else
pipe row(l_list);
exit;
end if;
end loop;
return;
end split;
I don't know if it'll be of use, but we found it here...
declare
seprator varchar2(1):=',';
dosweeklist varchar2(4000):='a,b,c';
begin
for i in (SELECT SUBSTR(dosweeklist,
case when level=1 then 1 else INSTR(dosweeklist,seprator,1,LEVEL-1)+1 end,
NVL(NULLIF(INSTR(dosweeklist,seprator,1,LEVEL),0),length(dosweeklist)+1) - case when level=1 then 1 else INSTR(dosweeklist,seprator,1,LEVEL-1)+1 end) dat
FROM dual
CONNECT BY LEVEL <= LENGTH(dosweeklist) - LENGTH(REPLACE(dosweeklist,seprator,'')) +1)
loop
dbms_output.put_line(i.dat);
end loop;
end;
/
so select query only in for loop can do the trick, by replacing dosweeklist as your delimited string and seprator as your delimited character.
Lets see output
a
b
c
You can use Replace Function to replace comma easily. To Do this-
The syntax for the REPLACE function in SQL Server (Transact-SQL) is:
REPLACE( string, string_to_replace, replacement_string )
Parameters or Arguments
string : The source string from which a sequence of characters will be replaced by another set of characters.
string_to_replace : The string that will be searched for in string1.
replacement_string : The replacement string. All occurrences of string_to_replace will be replaced with replacement_string in string1.
Note :
The REPLACE function performs a replacement that is not case-sensitive. So all occurrences of string_to_replace will be replaced with replacement_string regardless of the case of string_to_replace or replacement_string
For Example :
SELECT REPLACE('Kapil,raj,chouhan', ',' , ' ') from DUAL;
Result : Kapil raj chouhan
SELECT REPLACE('I Live In India', ' ' , '-') from DUAL;
Result : I-Live-In-India
SELECT REPLACE('facebook.com', 'face' , 'friends') from DUAL;
Result : friendsbook.com
I Hope it will be usefull for you.
declare
v_str varchar2(100) := '1,2,3,4,6,7,8,9,0,';
v_str1 varchar2(100);
v_comma_pos number := 0;
v_start_pos number := 1;
begin
loop
v_comma_pos := instr(v_str,',',v_start_pos);
v_str1 := substr(v_str,v_start_pos,(v_comma_pos - v_start_pos));
dbms_output.put_line(v_str1);
if v_comma_pos = 0 then
v_str1 := substr(v_str,v_start_pos);
dbms_output.put_line(v_str1);
exit;
end if;
v_start_pos := v_comma_pos + 1;
if v_comma_pos = 0 then
exit;
end if;
end loop;
end;
Another possibility is:
create or replace FUNCTION getNth (
input varchar2,
nth number
) RETURN varchar2 AS
nthVal varchar2(80);
BEGIN
with candidates (s,e,n) as (
select 1, instr(input,',',1), 1 from dual
union all
select e+1, instr(input,',',e+1), n+1
from candidates where e > 0)
select substr(input,s,case when e > 0 then e-s else length(input) end)
into nthVal
from candidates where n=nth;
return nthVal;
END getNth;
It's a little too expensive to run, as it computes the complete split every time the caller asks for one of the items in there...
Simple Code
create or replace function get_token(text_is varchar2, token_in number, delim_is varchar2 := ';') return varchar2 is
text_ls varchar2(2000);
spos_ln number;
epos _ln number;
begin
text_ls := delim_is || text_is || rpad(delim_is, token_in, delim_is);
spos_ln := instr(text_ls, delim_is, 1, token_in);
epos_ln := instr(text_ls, delim_is, 1, token_in+1);
return substr(text_ls, spos_ln+1, epos_ln-spos_ln-1);
end get_token;
We can never run out of alternatives of doing the same thing differently, right? I recently found this is pretty handy:
DECLARE
BAR VARCHAR2 (200) := '1,2,3';
BEGIN
FOR FOO IN ( SELECT REGEXP_SUBSTR (BAR,
'[^,]+',
1,
LEVEL)
TXT
FROM DUAL
CONNECT BY REGEXP_SUBSTR (BAR,
'[^,]+',
1,
LEVEL)
IS NOT NULL)
LOOP
DBMS_OUTPUT.PUT_LINE (FOO.TXT);
END LOOP;
END;
Outputs:
1
2
3
here is another easier option
select to_number(column_value) as IDs from xmltable('1,2,3,4,5');
Yes, it is very frustrating that dbms_utility.comma_to_table only supports comma delimieted lists and then only when elements in the list are valid PL/SQL identifies (so numbers cause an error).
I have created a generic parsing package that will do what you need (pasted below). It is part of my "demo.zip" file, a repository of over 2000 files that support my training materials, all available at PL/SQL Obsession: www.toadworld.com/SF.
Regards, Steven Feuerstein www.plsqlchallenge.com (daily PL/SQL quiz)
CREATE OR REPLACE PACKAGE parse
/*
Generalized delimited string parsing package
Author: Steven Feuerstein, [email protected]
Latest version always available on PL/SQL Obsession:
www.ToadWorld.com/SF
Click on "Trainings, Seminars and Presentations" and
then download the demo.zip file.
Modification History
Date Change
10-APR-2009 Add support for nested list variations
Notes:
* This package does not validate correct use of delimiters.
It assumes valid construction of lists.
* Import the Q##PARSE.qut file into an installation of
Quest Code Tester 1.8.3 or higher in order to run
the regression test for this package.
*/
IS
SUBTYPE maxvarchar2_t IS VARCHAR2 (32767);
/*
Each of the collection types below correspond to (are returned by)
one of the parse functions.
items_tt - a simple list of strings
nested_items_tt - a list of lists of strings
named_nested_items_tt - a list of named lists of strings
This last type also demonstrates the power and elegance of string-indexed
collections. The name of the list of elements is the index value for
the "outer" collection.
*/
TYPE items_tt IS TABLE OF maxvarchar2_t
INDEX BY PLS_INTEGER;
TYPE nested_items_tt IS TABLE OF items_tt
INDEX BY PLS_INTEGER;
TYPE named_nested_items_tt IS TABLE OF items_tt
INDEX BY maxvarchar2_t;
/*
Parse lists with a single delimiter.
Example: a,b,c,d
Here is an example of using this function:
DECLARE
l_list parse.items_tt;
BEGIN
l_list := parse.string_to_list ('a,b,c,d', ',');
END;
*/
FUNCTION string_to_list (string_in IN VARCHAR2, delim_in IN VARCHAR2)
RETURN items_tt;
/*
Parse lists with nested delimiters.
Example: a,b,c,d|1,2,3|x,y,z
Here is an example of using this function:
DECLARE
l_list parse.nested_items_tt;
BEGIN
l_list := parse.string_to_list ('a,b,c,d|1,2,3,4', '|', ',');
END;
*/
FUNCTION string_to_list (string_in IN VARCHAR2
, outer_delim_in IN VARCHAR2
, inner_delim_in IN VARCHAR2
)
RETURN nested_items_tt;
/*
Parse named lists with nested delimiters.
Example: letters:a,b,c,d|numbers:1,2,3|names:steven,george
Here is an example of using this function:
DECLARE
l_list parse.named_nested_items_tt;
BEGIN
l_list := parse.string_to_list ('letters:a,b,c,d|numbers:1,2,3,4', '|', ':', ',');
END;
*/
FUNCTION string_to_list (string_in IN VARCHAR2
, outer_delim_in IN VARCHAR2
, name_delim_in IN VARCHAR2
, inner_delim_in IN VARCHAR2
)
RETURN named_nested_items_tt;
PROCEDURE display_list (string_in IN VARCHAR2
, delim_in IN VARCHAR2:= ','
);
PROCEDURE display_list (string_in IN VARCHAR2
, outer_delim_in IN VARCHAR2
, inner_delim_in IN VARCHAR2
);
PROCEDURE display_list (string_in IN VARCHAR2
, outer_delim_in IN VARCHAR2
, name_delim_in IN VARCHAR2
, inner_delim_in IN VARCHAR2
);
PROCEDURE show_variations;
/* Helper function for automated testing */
FUNCTION nested_eq (list1_in IN items_tt
, list2_in IN items_tt
, nulls_eq_in IN BOOLEAN
)
RETURN BOOLEAN;
END parse;
/
CREATE OR REPLACE PACKAGE BODY parse
IS
FUNCTION string_to_list (string_in IN VARCHAR2, delim_in IN VARCHAR2)
RETURN items_tt
IS
c_end_of_list CONSTANT PLS_INTEGER := -99;
l_item maxvarchar2_t;
l_startloc PLS_INTEGER := 1;
items_out items_tt;
PROCEDURE add_item (item_in IN VARCHAR2)
IS
BEGIN
IF item_in = delim_in
THEN
/* We don't put delimiters into the collection. */
NULL;
ELSE
items_out (items_out.COUNT + 1) := item_in;
END IF;
END;
PROCEDURE get_next_item (string_in IN VARCHAR2
, start_location_io IN OUT PLS_INTEGER
, item_out OUT VARCHAR2
)
IS
l_loc PLS_INTEGER;
BEGIN
l_loc := INSTR (string_in, delim_in, start_location_io);
IF l_loc = start_location_io
THEN
/* A null item (two consecutive delimiters) */
item_out := NULL;
ELSIF l_loc = 0
THEN
/* We are at the last item in the list. */
item_out := SUBSTR (string_in, start_location_io);
ELSE
/* Extract the element between the two positions. */
item_out :=
SUBSTR (string_in
, start_location_io
, l_loc - start_location_io
);
END IF;
IF l_loc = 0
THEN
/* If the delimiter was not found, send back indication
that we are at the end of the list. */
start_location_io := c_end_of_list;
ELSE
/* Move the starting point for the INSTR search forward. */
start_location_io := l_loc + 1;
END IF;
END get_next_item;
BEGIN
IF string_in IS NULL OR delim_in IS NULL
THEN
/* Nothing to do except pass back the empty collection. */
NULL;
ELSE
LOOP
get_next_item (string_in, l_startloc, l_item);
add_item (l_item);
EXIT WHEN l_startloc = c_end_of_list;
END LOOP;
END IF;
RETURN items_out;
END string_to_list;
FUNCTION string_to_list (string_in IN VARCHAR2
, outer_delim_in IN VARCHAR2
, inner_delim_in IN VARCHAR2
)
RETURN nested_items_tt
IS
l_elements items_tt;
l_return nested_items_tt;
BEGIN
/* Separate out the different lists. */
l_elements := string_to_list (string_in, outer_delim_in);
/* For each list, parse out the separate items
and add them to the end of the list of items
for that list. */
FOR indx IN 1 .. l_elements.COUNT
LOOP
l_return (l_return.COUNT + 1) :=
string_to_list (l_elements (indx), inner_delim_in);
END LOOP;
RETURN l_return;
END string_to_list;
FUNCTION string_to_list (string_in IN VARCHAR2
, outer_delim_in IN VARCHAR2
, name_delim_in IN VARCHAR2
, inner_delim_in IN VARCHAR2
)
RETURN named_nested_items_tt
IS
c_name_position constant pls_integer := 1;
c_items_position constant pls_integer := 2;
l_elements items_tt;
l_name_and_values items_tt;
l_return named_nested_items_tt;
BEGIN
/* Separate out the different lists. */
l_elements := string_to_list (string_in, outer_delim_in);
FOR indx IN 1 .. l_elements.COUNT
LOOP
/* Extract the name and the list of items that go with
the name. This collection always has just two elements:
index 1 - the name
index 2 - the list of values
*/
l_name_and_values :=
string_to_list (l_elements (indx), name_delim_in);
/*
Use the name as the index value for this list.
*/
l_return (l_name_and_values (c_name_position)) :=
string_to_list (l_name_and_values (c_items_position), inner_delim_in);
END LOOP;
RETURN l_return;
END string_to_list;
PROCEDURE display_list (string_in IN VARCHAR2
, delim_in IN VARCHAR2:= ','
)
IS
l_items items_tt;
BEGIN
DBMS_OUTPUT.put_line (
'Parse "' || string_in || '" using "' || delim_in || '"'
);
l_items := string_to_list (string_in, delim_in);
FOR indx IN 1 .. l_items.COUNT
LOOP
DBMS_OUTPUT.put_line ('> ' || indx || ' = ' || l_items (indx));
END LOOP;
END display_list;
PROCEDURE display_list (string_in IN VARCHAR2
, outer_delim_in IN VARCHAR2
, inner_delim_in IN VARCHAR2
)
IS
l_items nested_items_tt;
BEGIN
DBMS_OUTPUT.put_line( 'Parse "'
|| string_in
|| '" using "'
|| outer_delim_in
|| '-'
|| inner_delim_in
|| '"');
l_items := string_to_list (string_in, outer_delim_in, inner_delim_in);
FOR outer_index IN 1 .. l_items.COUNT
LOOP
DBMS_OUTPUT.put_line( 'List '
|| outer_index
|| ' contains '
|| l_items (outer_index).COUNT
|| ' elements');
FOR inner_index IN 1 .. l_items (outer_index).COUNT
LOOP
DBMS_OUTPUT.put_line( '> Value '
|| inner_index
|| ' = '
|| l_items (outer_index) (inner_index));
END LOOP;
END LOOP;
END display_list;
PROCEDURE display_list (string_in IN VARCHAR2
, outer_delim_in IN VARCHAR2
, name_delim_in IN VARCHAR2
, inner_delim_in IN VARCHAR2
)
IS
l_items named_nested_items_tt;
l_index maxvarchar2_t;
BEGIN
DBMS_OUTPUT.put_line( 'Parse "'
|| string_in
|| '" using "'
|| outer_delim_in
|| '-'
|| name_delim_in
|| '-'
|| inner_delim_in
|| '"');
l_items :=
string_to_list (string_in
, outer_delim_in
, name_delim_in
, inner_delim_in
);
l_index := l_items.FIRST;
WHILE (l_index IS NOT NULL)
LOOP
DBMS_OUTPUT.put_line( 'List "'
|| l_index
|| '" contains '
|| l_items (l_index).COUNT
|| ' elements');
FOR inner_index IN 1 .. l_items (l_index).COUNT
LOOP
DBMS_OUTPUT.put_line( '> Value '
|| inner_index
|| ' = '
|| l_items (l_index) (inner_index));
END LOOP;
l_index := l_items.NEXT (l_index);
END LOOP;
END display_list;
PROCEDURE show_variations
IS
PROCEDURE show_header (title_in IN VARCHAR2)
IS
BEGIN
DBMS_OUTPUT.put_line (RPAD ('=', 60, '='));
DBMS_OUTPUT.put_line (title_in);
DBMS_OUTPUT.put_line (RPAD ('=', 60, '='));
END show_header;
BEGIN
show_header ('Single Delimiter Lists');
display_list ('a,b,c');
display_list ('a;b;c', ';');
display_list ('a,,b,c');
display_list (',,b,c,,');
show_header ('Nested Lists');
display_list ('a,b,c,d|1,2,3|x,y,z', '|', ',');
show_header ('Named, Nested Lists');
display_list ('letters:a,b,c,d|numbers:1,2,3|names:steven,george'
, '|'
, ':'
, ','
);
END;
FUNCTION nested_eq (list1_in IN items_tt
, list2_in IN items_tt
, nulls_eq_in IN BOOLEAN
)
RETURN BOOLEAN
IS
l_return BOOLEAN := list1_in.COUNT = list2_in.COUNT;
l_index PLS_INTEGER := 1;
BEGIN
WHILE (l_return AND l_index IS NOT NULL)
LOOP
l_return := list1_in (l_index) = list2_in (l_index);
l_index := list1_in.NEXT (l_index);
END LOOP;
RETURN l_return;
EXCEPTION
WHEN NO_DATA_FOUND
THEN
RETURN FALSE;
END nested_eq;
END;
/
I was looking for a similar solution where I had multi-byte characters (hyphen, whitespace, underscore) in comma separated lists. So dbms_utility.comma_to_table didn't work for me.
declare
curr_val varchar2 (255 byte);
input_str varchar2 (255 byte);
remaining_str varchar2 (255 byte);
begin
remaining_str := input_str || ',dummy'; -- this value won't output
while (regexp_like (remaining_str, '.+,.+'))
loop
curr_val := substr (remaining_str, 1, instr (remaining_str, ',') - 1);
remaining_str = substr (remaining_str, instr (remaining_str, ',') + 1);
dbms_output.put_line (curr_val);
end loop;
end;
This is not an expert answer so I hope someone would improve this answer.
I know Stack Overflow frowns on pasting URLs without explanations, but this particular page has a few really good options:
http://www.oratechinfo.co.uk/delimited_lists_to_collections.html
I particularly like this one, which converts the delimited list into a temporary table you can run queries against:
/* Create the output TYPE, here using a VARCHAR2(100) nested table type */
SQL> CREATE TYPE test_type AS TABLE OF VARCHAR2(100);
2 /
Type created.
/* Now, create the function.*/
SQL> CREATE OR REPLACE FUNCTION f_convert(p_list IN VARCHAR2)
2 RETURN test_type
3 AS
4 l_string VARCHAR2(32767) := p_list || ',';
5 l_comma_index PLS_INTEGER;
6 l_index PLS_INTEGER := 1;
7 l_tab test_type := test_type();
8 BEGIN
9 LOOP
10 l_comma_index := INSTR(l_string, ',', l_index);
11 EXIT WHEN l_comma_index = 0;
12 l_tab.EXTEND;
13 l_tab(l_tab.COUNT) := SUBSTR(l_string, l_index, l_comma_index - l_index);
14 l_index := l_comma_index + 1;
15 END LOOP;
16 RETURN l_tab;
17 END f_convert;
18 /
Function created.
/* Prove it works */
SQL> SELECT * FROM TABLE(f_convert('AAA,BBB,CCC,D'));
COLUMN_VALUE
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
AAA
BBB
CCC
D
4 rows selected.
Using a pipelined table function:
SQL> CREATE OR REPLACE TYPE test_type
2 AS
3 TABLE OF VARCHAR2(100)
4 /
Type created.
SQL> CREATE OR REPLACE FUNCTION comma_to_table(
2 p_list IN VARCHAR2)
3 RETURN test_type PIPELINED
4 AS
5 l_string LONG := p_list || ',';
6 l_comma_index PLS_INTEGER;
7 l_index PLS_INTEGER := 1;
8 BEGIN
9 LOOP
10 l_comma_index := INSTR(l_string, ',', l_index);
11 EXIT
12 WHEN l_comma_index = 0;
13 PIPE ROW ( TRIM(SUBSTR(l_string, l_index, l_comma_index - l_index)));
14 l_index := l_comma_index + 1;
15 END LOOP;
16 RETURN;
17 END comma_to_table;
18 /
Function created.
Let's see the output:
SQL> SELECT *
2 FROM TABLE(comma_to_table('12 3,456,,,,,abc,def'))
3 /
COLUMN_VALUE
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
12 3
456
abc
def
8 rows selected.
SQL>
Source: Stackoverflow.com