Sort data before concatenating using STUFF FOR XML - tsql

Question

I have the following query that I am using for an SSRS Report:
SELECT ROW_NUMBER() OVER ( ORDER BY Judge.EventJudgeID ) AS JudgeRow ,
Judge.EventID ,
Judge.Judge_PersonID ,
STUFF(( SELECT DISTINCT
',' + CAST(Fights.FightNumber AS VARCHAR(MAX)) AS [text()]
FROM dbo.tblFights Fights ,
dbo.tblFightJudge FRJudge
WHERE Fights.FightID = FRJudge.fightid
AND ( Judge.Judge_PersonID = FRJudge.judge1id
OR Judge.Judge_PersonID = FRJudge.judge2id
OR Judge.Judge_PersonID = FRJudge.judge3id
)
FOR
XML PATH('')
), 1, 1, '') AS BoutsJudged ,
Persons.LastName + ' ' + Persons.FirstName AS JudgeName ,
Events.EventName ,
Events.EventDate
FROM dbo.tblEventJudge Judge
INNER JOIN dbo.tblPersons Persons ON PersonID = Judge_PersonID
INNER JOIN dbo.tblEvents Events ON Events.EventID = Judge.EventID
WHERE Judge.EventID = 1278;
The problem is that the STUFF command returns the following string:
1,10,11,12,13,14,15,16,17,18,19,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9
How can I make it sort the numbers before concatenating it into a string?

Answer 1

Try this
SELECT ROW_NUMBER() OVER ( ORDER BY Judge.EventJudgeID ) AS JudgeRow ,
Judge.EventID ,
Judge.Judge_PersonID ,
STUFF(Select ',' + CAST(Fights.FightNumber AS VARCHAR(MAX)) AS [text()] From ( SELECT DISTINCT Fights.FightNumber
FROM dbo.tblFights Fights ,
dbo.tblFightJudge FRJudge
WHERE Fights.FightID = FRJudge.fightid
AND ( Judge.Judge_PersonID = FRJudge.judge1id
OR Judge.Judge_PersonID = FRJudge.judge2id
OR Judge.Judge_PersonID = FRJudge.judge3id
)
) X
ORDER BY Fights.FightNumber
FOR
XML PATH('')
), 1, 1, '') AS BoutsJudged ,
Persons.LastName + ' ' + Persons.FirstName AS JudgeName ,
Events.EventName ,
Events.EventDate
FROM dbo.tblEventJudge Judge
INNER JOIN dbo.tblPersons Persons ON PersonID = Judge_PersonID
INNER JOIN dbo.tblEvents Events ON Events.EventID = Judge.EventID
WHERE Judge.EventID = 1278;
You can check below sqls,
Before :
Select *,
STUFF((Select Distinct ','+Cast(high as varchar(MAX))
from master..spt_values where type = 'p' and number < 20
for xml Path('')),1,1,'')
from master..spt_values where type = 'p' and number < 20
After :
Select *,
STUFF((Select ','+Cast(high as varchar(MAX)) from (Select distinct high
from master..spt_values where type = 'p' and number < 20) x Order by high for xml Path('')),1,1,'')
from master..spt_values where type = 'p' and number < 20

Answer 2

I apologize for this solution being pedantic, but I have a hard time parsing code and need to see things in steps. Also, Microsoft adds a feature to do this in the 2012 release, but this code should work in most releases. First, use a database open to users in most SQLServers...
USE MASTER; SELECT TOP 3 TABLE_NAME, COLUMN_NAME, ORDINAL_POSITION FROM INFORMATION_SCHEMA.COLUMNS;
/*TABLE_NAME COLUMN_NAME ORDINAL_POSITION
spt_fallback_db xserver_name 1
spt_fallback_db xdttm_ins 2
spt_fallback_db xdttm_last_ins_upd 3
*/
Now, breaking down this approach (to sorting a list within a column)...
(1) Adding FOR XML PATH('') to a 1 column query pivots it to one row, but adds XML tags for the column header...
SELECT TOP 3 COLUMN_NAME FROM INFORMATION_SCHEMA.COLUMNS FOR XML PATH('');
/*<COLUMN_NAME>xserver_name</COLUMN_NAME><COLUMN_NAME>xdttm_ins</COLUMN_NAME><COLUMN_NAME>xdttm_last_ins_upd</COLUMN_NAME>*/
(2) Concatination nullifies the column header, eliminating the tags. Any string will work, I want comma space...
SELECT TOP 3 ', ' + COLUMN_NAME FROM INFORMATION_SCHEMA.COLUMNS FOR XML PATH('');
/*, xserver_name, xdttm_ins, xdttm_last_ins_upd*/
(3) Other columns will need their own SELECT, so FOR XML must be a subquery, and ORDER BY is a legal prefix in a FOR XML subquery ;)...
SELECT TOP 2 TABLE_NAME
, (SELECT ', ' + COLUMN_NAME FROM INFORMATION_SCHEMA.COLUMNS
WHERE COLUMNS.TABLE_NAME = TABLES.TABLE_NAME
ORDER BY ORDINAL_POSITION FOR XML PATH('')
) LIST_OF_COLUMNS
FROM INFORMATION_SCHEMA.TABLES
ORDER BY TABLE_NAME;
/*TABLE_NAME LIST_OF_COLUMNS
spt_fallback_db , xserver_name, xdttm_ins, xdttm_last_ins_upd, xfallback_dbid, name, dbid, status, version
spt_fallback_dev , xserver_name, xdttm_ins, xdttm_last_ins_upd, xfallback_low, xfallback_drive, low, high, status, name, phyname
*/
(4) Finally, SUBSTRING is more familiar to me than STUFF for removing a known prefix...
SELECT TOP 2 TABLE_NAME
, SUBSTRING((SELECT ', ' + COLUMN_NAME FROM INFORMATION_SCHEMA.COLUMNS
WHERE COLUMNS.TABLE_NAME = TABLES.TABLE_NAME
ORDER BY ORDINAL_POSITION FOR XML PATH('')
)
, 2+1--Add 1 to start substring after the first 2 characters
, 99999) LIST_OF_COLUMNS
FROM INFORMATION_SCHEMA.TABLES
ORDER BY TABLE_NAME;
/*TABLE_NAME LIST_OF_COLUMNS
spt_fallback_db xserver_name, xdttm_ins, xdttm_last_ins_upd, xfallback_dbid, name, dbid, status, version
spt_fallback_dev xserver_name, xdttm_ins, xdttm_last_ins_upd, xfallback_low, xfallback_drive, low, high, status, name, phyname
*/
Pedantically yours - Jim Gettman