SQL XML DML value() function usage examples

Interesting one today:

XML DML is one powerful tool in Sql Server arsenal. In that value() function allows us to parse the XMl file and retrieve the values of attributes, elements, text, etc from the XML.

Using the sample XML below, we’ll explore various versions of using value() function.

Examples:

This is the sample XML file

DECLARE @X XML = '

....
'

SELECT @X.value('(/StoreConfigurations/ProcessingOptions/PasswordExpirationDays)<span id="mce_SELREST_start" style="overflow:hidden;line-height:0;">&#65279;</span>[1]', 'VARCHAR(2)') AS [Returns30]
	, @X.value('(/StoreConfigurations/ProcessingOptions/PasswordExpirationDays)[2]', 'VARCHAR(2)') AS [ReturnsNULL]

	, @X.value('(/StoreConfigurations/ReceiptTexts/ReceiptText/ReceiptHeaderLine1)[1]', 'VARCHAR(100)') AS [Returns YourStore]
	, @X.value('(/StoreConfigurations/ReceiptTexts/ReceiptText[@StoreNumber="6"]/ReceiptHeaderLine2)[1]', 'VARCHAR(100)') AS [Returns Your Street]

	, @X.value('(/StoreConfigurations/Hosts/Host/RetryCounter)[1]', 'VARCHAR(2)') AS [Returns 01]
	, @X.value('(/StoreConfigurations/Hosts/Host[2]/RetryCounter)[2]', 'VARCHAR(2)') AS [Returns 04]
	, @X.value('(/StoreConfigurations/Hosts/Host[3]/RetryCounter)[1]', 'VARCHAR(2)') AS [Returns 03]

	, @X.value('(/StoreConfigurations/Hosts/Host[@Prefix="X"]/RetryCounter)[1]', 'VARCHAR(2)') AS [Returns 01]
	, @X.value('(/StoreConfigurations/Hosts/Host[@Prefix="Y"]/RetryCounter)[2]', 'VARCHAR(2)') AS [Returns 04]
	, @X.value('(/StoreConfigurations/Hosts/Host[@Prefix="Z"]/RetryCounter)[1]', 'VARCHAR(2)') AS [Returns 03]

	, @X.value('(/StoreConfigurations/Hosts/Host[@Prefix="X"]/HostERCUse)[1]', 'VARCHAR(2)') AS [Returns X]
	, @X.value('(/StoreConfigurations/Hosts/Host[@Prefix="Y"]/HostERCUse)[1]', 'VARCHAR(2)') AS [Returns Y]
	, @X.value('(/StoreConfigurations/Hosts/Host[@Prefix="Z"]/HostERCUse)[1]', 'VARCHAR(2)') AS [Returns Z]

--/ReceiptHeaderLine1
IF (@X.value('(/StoreConfigurations/Hosts/Host[@Prefix="X"]/HostERCUse)[1]', 'VARCHAR(2)') = 'X')
	PRINT 'Yes, its X'
IF (@X.value('(/StoreConfigurations/Hosts/Host[@Prefix="Y"]/HostERCUse)[1]', 'VARCHAR(2)') = 'Y')
	PRINT 'Yes, its Y'
IF (@X.value('(/StoreConfigurations/Hosts/Host[@Prefix="Z"]/HostERCUse)[1]', 'VARCHAR(2)') = 'Z')
	PRINT 'Yes, its Z'
GO

Output:

The result looks like this:

Also we could PRINT from the value function too:

Hope this helps,
_Sqltimes

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Sql Server : Play with SEQUENCE definition numbers (ALTER SEQUENCE)

Quick one today:

Sequence is nice new feature in Sql Server, it allows a single location to manage IDENTITY-ies. In the past, we looked at one aspect of Sequence, today we’ll cover a bit more ground.

Once the Sequence definition is set, you may need to alter the definition. Below sample scripts show a way to modify some aspects of Sequence definition.

--
--   Create SEQUENCE and play with its DEFINITION
--
CREATE SEQUENCE SampleSequence
	AS BIGINT
	START WITH 0
	INCREMENT BY 1
	MINVALUE -10
    MAXVALUE 200
GO

SELECT name, start_value, maximum_value, current_value
FROM sys.sequences
WHERE name = 'SampleSequence' ;
GO

ALTER SEQUENCE SampleSequence RESTART WITH 2
GO

ALTER SEQUENCE SampleSequence MAXVALUE 300;
GO

SELECT name, start_value, maximum_value, current_value
FROM sys.sequences
WHERE name = 'SampleSequence' ;
GO

 

Hope this helps,
_Sqltimes

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Sql Server: How to use variables in SQL Script in SSMS ( with SQLCMD mode)

Quick one today:

Frequently, we run into situations, where we need to put place holders, in a SQL script, that take different values based on some conditions or  settings. Essentially having variables about the script itself (and not the code)

We are taking about variables at the meta-level (script file level, and not the variables in the code itself)

SQLCMD mode within SSMS allows us to set placeholders / variables that will take new values (as you provide) right before executing the script.

First enable SQLCMD mode in SSMS:

In the query window, write some code as below:

--
--  Set variables in a script
--
:SETVAR DatabaseName "master"
:SETVAR TableName "MSreplication_options"

USE $(DatabaseName)
SELECT TOP 10 *
FROM syscolumns

USE $(DatabaseName)
SELECT *
FROM sys.objects
WHERE name LIKE '$(TableName)'
GO

Observations:

Variable replacement occurs both in

USE $(DatabaseName)

and

WHERE name LIKE ‘$(TableName)‘

• Having single quotes does not affect variable replacement, as this replacement occurs at the script file level (and node code level — if that makes sense).
• Since this is a universal replacement capability, it allows you to use variable replacement anywhere in the code without need for special escape characters.

Hope this helps,
_Sqltimes

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Sql Server: How to query the current SEQUENCE number

Quick one today:

Sequence numbers is a valuable feature in Sql Server. Ir replaces the use of IDENTITY column property in some scenarios.

In the past we covered similar topic on how to query the current value of IDENTITY column. With SEQUENCEs it is slightly different:

--
--  Query SEQUENCE number details
--
SELECT name, start_value, maximum_value, current_value
FROM sys.sequences
WHERE name = 'TransactionIdSequence' ;
GO

 

Hope this helps,
_Sqltimes

 

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Sql Server XML DML : Value function to query parse XML tree to retrieve values

Quick one today:

Recently, we capture deadlock server side traces and needed a quick way to retrieve all SPIDs and procedures involved in deadlocks.

The deadlock trace graph is an XML file. If there was one or two deadlocks, we could amanyze it manually. But when you have several deadlocks (100’s or more) and need to analyze all the instances of deadlock entries in the trace, we need a query to parse the XML tree.

Enter XML DML!!

Sample Deadlock XML file looks like this:

We need to retrieve the procedure name involved in the deadlock. Use value() function to parse through the XML path and retrieve the attribute or element value.

Attribute value using @AttributeName

--
--	Return Attribute value in an XML element
--
SELECT	  CONVERT(XML, TextData).value('(/deadlock-list/deadlock/process-list/process/executionStack/frame/@procname)[1]', 'VARCHAR(100)')
		, CONVERT(XML, TextData).value('(/deadlock-list/deadlock/process-list/process/executionStack/frame/@procname)[2]', 'VARCHAR(100)')
		, CONVERT(XML, TextData).value('(/deadlock-list/deadlock/process-list/process/executionStack/frame/@procname)[3]', 'VARCHAR(100)')
		, CONVERT(XML, TextData).value('(/deadlock-list/deadlock/process-list/process/executionStack/frame/@procname)[4]', 'VARCHAR(100)')
		, CONVERT(XML, TextData)
FROM [After]
WHERE EventClass = 148

Pay attention the path mentioned — that shows what value to retrieve:

/deadlock-list/deadlock/process-list/process/executionStack/frame/@procname)[1]

• ‘/deadlock-list/deadlock/process-list/process/executionStack/frame/’ is the location of the attribute
• ‘@procname’ is the attribute to retrieve
• [1] says to retrieve the vale from the first instance of such element — as XML could have multiple repeating similar elements. So we could also say [2], [3]… for respective instances.
• We mention datatype VARCHAR(30) as a second parameter to value function indicating the type of value we are returning.

Attribute text:

Similarly, we could retrieve text value using XML value function:

--
--	Return XML element value
--
SELECT	  CONVERT(XML, TextData).value('(/deadlock-list/deadlock/process-list/process/executionStack/frame)[1]', 'VARCHAR(100)')
		, CONVERT(XML, TextData).value('(/deadlock-list/deadlock/process-list/process/executionStack/frame)[2]', 'VARCHAR(100)')
		, CONVERT(XML, TextData).value('(/deadlock-list/deadlock/process-list/process/executionStack/frame)[3]', 'VARCHAR(100)')
		, CONVERT(XML, TextData)
FROM [After]
WHERE EventClass = 148

Similarly, pay attention the path mentioned — that shows text to retrieve:

‘/deadlock-list/deadlock/process-list/process/executionStack/frame)[1]’

• /deadlock-list/deadlock/process-list/process/executionStack/frame/ is the location of the text
• [1] says to retrieve the vale from the first instance of such element — as XML could have multiple repeating similar elements. So we could also say [2], [3]… for respective instances.

For more information, please review MSDN article.

 

Hope this helps,
_Sqltimes

 

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