SQL Server - In clause with a declared variable

sql sql-server-2008 in-clause
Melursus picture Melursus · May 31, 2010 · Viewed 207.4k times · Source

Let say I got the following :

DECLARE @ExcludedList VARCHAR(MAX)

SET @ExcludedList = 3 + ', ' + 4 + ' ,' + '22'

SELECT * FROM A WHERE Id NOT IN (@ExcludedList)

Error : Conversion failed when converting the varchar value ', ' to data type int.

I understand why the error is there but I don't know how to solve it...

Answer

Mikkel Tronsrud picture Mikkel Tronsrud · Dec 11, 2014

This is an example where I use the table variable to list multiple values in an IN clause. The obvious reason is to be able to change the list of values only one place in a long procedure.

To make it even more dynamic and alowing user input, I suggest declaring a varchar variable for the input, and then using a WHILE to loop trough the data in the variable and insert it into the table variable.

Replace @your_list, Your_table and the values with real stuff. 

DECLARE @your_list TABLE (list varchar(25)) 
INSERT into @your_list
VALUES ('value1'),('value2376')

SELECT *  
FROM your_table 
WHERE your_column in ( select list from @your_list )

The select statement abowe will do the same as:

SELECT *  
FROM your_table 
WHERE your_column in ('value','value2376' )

Related questions

SQL Server 2008 Update Query with Join and Where clause in joined table

Not sure why this is not working: UPDATE ust SET ust.isUnsubscribedFromSystemEmails = 1 FROM UserSetting AS ust INNER JOIN [User] ON ust.userID = [User].userID AND [User].emailAddress IN (SELECT emailAddress FROM BadEmailAddresses) In plain English, I am trying to set …

Read More
CASE Statement in where clause using equal to and IN

WHERE CONDITION1='ABC' AND Status = CASE @Option WHEN 1 THEN 'True' WHEN 2 THEN 'False' WHEN 3 THEN NULL WHEn 4 THEN **IN ('True', 'False', NULL)** END How do I write a query where my first options match directly using = but my last option …

Read More
How can I get column names from a table in SQL Server?

I want to query the name of all columns of a table. I found how to do this in: Oracle MySQL PostgreSQL But I also need to know: how can this be done in Microsoft SQL Server (2008 in my case)?

Read More