Passing an array of parameters to a stored procedure

I need to pass an array of "id's" to a stored procedure, to delete all rows from the table EXCEPT the rows that match id's in the array.

How can I do it in a most simple way?

If you are using Sql Server 2008 or better, you can use something called a Table-Valued Parameter (TVP) instead of serializing & deserializing your list data every time you want to pass it to a stored procedure.

Let's start by creating a simple schema to serve as our playground:

CREATE DATABASE [TestbedDb]
GO


USE [TestbedDb]
GO

	/* First, setup the sample program's account & credentials*/
CREATE LOGIN [testbedUser] WITH PASSWORD=N'µ×?
?S[°¿Q­¥½q?_Ĭ¼Ð)3õļ%dv', DEFAULT_DATABASE=[master], DEFAULT_LANGUAGE=[us_english], CHECK_EXPIRATION=OFF, CHECK_POLICY=ON
GO

CREATE USER [testbedUser] FOR LOGIN [testbedUser] WITH DEFAULT_SCHEMA=[dbo]
GO

EXEC sp_addrolemember N'db_owner', N'testbedUser'
GO


	/* Now setup the schema */
CREATE TABLE dbo.Table1 ( t1Id INT NOT NULL PRIMARY KEY );
GO

INSERT INTO dbo.Table1 (t1Id)
VALUES
	(1),
	(2),
	(3),
	(4),
	(5),
	(6),
	(7),
	(8),
	(9),
	(10);
GO

With our schema and sample data in place, we are now ready to create our TVP stored procedure:

CREATE TYPE T1Ids AS Table (
		t1Id INT
);
GO


CREATE PROCEDURE dbo.FindMatchingRowsInTable1( @Table1Ids AS T1Ids READONLY )
AS
BEGIN
		SET NOCOUNT ON;
		
		SELECT Table1.t1Id FROM dbo.Table1 AS Table1
		JOIN @Table1Ids AS paramTable1Ids ON Table1.t1Id = paramTable1Ids.t1Id;
END
GO

With both our schema and API in place, we can call the TVP stored procedure from our program like so:

        // Curry the TVP data
        DataTable t1Ids = new DataTable( );
        t1Ids.Columns.Add( "t1Id",
                           typeof( int ) );

        int[] listOfIdsToFind = new[] {1, 5, 9};
        foreach ( int id in listOfIdsToFind )
        {
            t1Ids.Rows.Add( id );
        }
        // Prepare the connection details
        SqlConnection testbedConnection =
                new SqlConnection(
                        @"Data Source=.\SQLExpress;Initial Catalog=TestbedDb;Persist Security Info=True;User ID=testbedUser;Password=letmein12;Connect Timeout=5" );

        try
        {
            testbedConnection.Open( );

            // Prepare a call to the stored procedure
            SqlCommand findMatchingRowsInTable1 = new SqlCommand( "dbo.FindMatchingRowsInTable1",
                                                                  testbedConnection );
            findMatchingRowsInTable1.CommandType = CommandType.StoredProcedure;

            // Curry up the TVP parameter
            SqlParameter sqlParameter = new SqlParameter( "Table1Ids",
                                                          t1Ids );
            findMatchingRowsInTable1.Parameters.Add( sqlParameter );

            // Execute the stored procedure
            SqlDataReader sqlDataReader = findMatchingRowsInTable1.ExecuteReader( );

            while ( sqlDataReader.Read( ) )
            {
                Console.WriteLine( "Matching t1ID: {0}",
                                   sqlDataReader[ "t1Id" ] );
            }
        }
        catch ( Exception e )
        {
            Console.WriteLine( e.ToString( ) );
        }
  /* Output:
   * Matching t1ID: 1
   * Matching t1ID: 5
   * Matching t1ID: 9
   */

There is probably a less painful way to do this using a more abstract API, such as Entity Framework. However, I do not have the time to see for myself at this time.

Use a stored procedure:

EDIT: A complement for serialize List (or anything else):

List<string> testList = new List<int>();

testList.Add(1);
testList.Add(2);
testList.Add(3);

XmlSerializer xs = new XmlSerializer(typeof(List<int>));
MemoryStream ms = new MemoryStream();
xs.Serialize(ms, testList);

string resultXML = UTF8Encoding.UTF8.GetString(ms.ToArray());

The result (ready to use with XML parameter):

<?xml version="1.0"?>
<ArrayOfInt xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance" xmlns:xsd="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema">
  <int>1</int>
  <int>2</int>
  <int>3</int>
</ArrayOfInt>

---

ORIGINAL POST:

Passing XML as parameter:

<ids>
	<id>1</id>
	<id>2</id>
</ids>

---

CREATE PROCEDURE [dbo].[DeleteAllData]
(
	@XMLDoc XML
)
AS
BEGIN

DECLARE @handle INT

EXEC sp_xml_preparedocument @handle OUTPUT, @XMLDoc

DELETE FROM
	YOURTABLE
WHERE
	YOUR_ID_COLUMN NOT IN (
		SELECT * FROM OPENXML (@handle, '/ids/id') WITH (id INT '.') 
	)
EXEC sp_xml_removedocument @handle

---

this is the best source:

http://www.sommarskog.se/arrays-in-sql.html

create a split function using the link, and use it like:

DELETE YourTable
    FROM YourTable                           d
    LEFT OUTER JOIN dbo.splitFunction(@Parameter) s ON d.ID=s.Value
    WHERE s.Value IS NULL

I prefer the number table approach

This is code based on the above link that should do it for you...

Before you use my function, you need to set up a "helper" table, you only need to do this one time per database:

CREATE TABLE Numbers
(Number int  NOT NULL,
    CONSTRAINT PK_Numbers PRIMARY KEY CLUSTERED (Number ASC)WITH (PAD_INDEX  = OFF, STATISTICS_NORECOMPUTE  = OFF, IGNORE_DUP_KEY = OFF, ALLOW_ROW_LOCKS  = ON, ALLOW_PAGE_LOCKS  = ON) ON [PRIMARY]
) ON [PRIMARY]
DECLARE @x int
SET @x=0
WHILE @x<8000
BEGIN
    SET @x=@x+1
    INSERT INTO Numbers VALUES (@x)
END

use this function to split your string, which does not loop and is very fast:

CREATE FUNCTION [dbo].[FN_ListToTable]
(
     @SplitOn              char(1)              --REQUIRED, the character to split the @List string on
    ,@List                 varchar(8000)        --REQUIRED, the list to split apart
)
RETURNS
@ParsedList table
(
    ListValue varchar(500)
)
AS
BEGIN

/**
Takes the given @List string and splits it apart based on the given @SplitOn character.
A table is returned, one row per split item, with a column name "ListValue".
This function workes for fixed or variable lenght items.
Empty and null items will not be included in the results set.


Returns a table, one row per item in the list, with a column name "ListValue"

EXAMPLE:
----------
SELECT * FROM dbo.FN_ListToTable(',','1,12,123,1234,54321,6,A,*,|||,,,,B')

    returns:
        ListValue  
        -----------
        1
        12
        123
        1234
        54321
        6
        A
        *
        |||
        B

        (10 row(s) affected)

**/



----------------
--SINGLE QUERY-- --this will not return empty rows
----------------
INSERT INTO @ParsedList
        (ListValue)
    SELECT
        ListValue
        FROM (SELECT
                  LTRIM(RTRIM(SUBSTRING(List2, number+1, CHARINDEX(@SplitOn, List2, number+1)-number - 1))) AS ListValue
                  FROM (
                           SELECT @SplitOn + @List + @SplitOn AS List2
                       ) AS dt
                      INNER JOIN Numbers n ON n.Number < LEN(dt.List2)
                  WHERE SUBSTRING(List2, number, 1) = @SplitOn
             ) dt2
        WHERE ListValue IS NOT NULL AND ListValue!=''



RETURN

END --Function FN_ListToTable

you can use this function as a table in a join:

SELECT
    Col1, COl2, Col3...
    FROM  YourTable
        INNER JOIN dbo.FN_ListToTable(',',@YourString) s ON  YourTable.ID = s.ListValue

here is your delete:

DELETE YourTable
    FROM YourTable                                d
    LEFT OUTER JOIN dbo.FN_ListToTable(',',@Parameter) s ON d.ID=s.ListValue
    WHERE s.ListValue IS NULL

You could try this:

DECLARE @List VARCHAR(MAX)




SELECT @List = '1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8'




EXEC(
'DELETE
FROM TABLE
WHERE ID NOT IN (' + @List + ')'
)

declare @ids nvarchar(1000)

set @ids = '100,2,3,4,5' --Parameter passed

set @ids = ',' + @ids + ','

select	 *
from	 TableName 
where	 charindex(',' + CAST(Id as nvarchar(50)) + ',', @ids) > 0

You could use a temp table which the stored procedure expects to exist. This will work on older versions of SQL Server, which do not support XML etc.

CREATE TABLE #temp
(INT myid)
GO
CREATE PROC myproc
AS
BEGIN
    DELETE YourTable
    FROM YourTable                    
    LEFT OUTER JOIN #temp T ON T.myid=s.id
    WHERE s.id IS NULL
END

I'd consider passing your IDs as an XML string, and then you could shred the XML into a temp table to join against, or you could also query against the XML directly using SP_XML_PREPAREDOCUMENT and OPENXML.

What about using the XML data type instead of passing an array. I find that a better solution and works well in SQL 2005

I like this one, because it is suited to be passed as an XElement, which is suitable for SqlCommand

(Sorry it is VB.NET but you get the idea)

<Extension()>
Public Function ToXml(Of T)(array As IEnumerable(Of T)) As XElement
   Return XElement.Parse(
           String.Format("<doc>{0}</doc>", String.Join("", array.Select(Function(s) String.Concat("<d>", s.ToString(), "</d>")))), LoadOptions.None)
 End Function

This is the sql Stored proc, shortened, not complete!

CREATE PROCEDURE [dbo].[myproc] (@blah xml) AS ... WHERE SomeID IN (SELECT doc.t.value('.','int') from @netwerkids.nodes(N'/doc/d') as doc(t))

In SQL Server 2016 you can wrap array with [ ] and pass it as JSON see http://blogs.msdn.com/b/sqlserverstorageengine/archive/2015/09/08/passing-arrays-to-t-sql-procedures-as-json.aspx

You could use the STRING_SPLIT function in SQL Server. You can check the documentation here.

DECLARE @YourListOfIds VARCHAR(1000) -- Or VARCHAR(MAX) depending on what you need

SET @YourListOfIds = '1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8'

SELECT * FROM YourTable
WHERE Id IN(SELECT CAST(Value AS INT) FROM STRING_SPLIT(@YourListOfIds, ','))