Convert comma separated string to array in PL/SQL - oracle

Question

How do I convert a comma separated string to a array?
I have the input '1,2,3' , and I need to convert it into an array.

Answer 1

here is another easier option
select to_number(column_value) as IDs from xmltable('1,2,3,4,5');

Answer 2

Oracle provides the builtin function DBMS_UTILITY.COMMA_TO_TABLE.
Unfortunately, this one doesn't work with numbers:
SQL> declare
2 l_input varchar2(4000) := '1,2,3';
3 l_count binary_integer;
4 l_array dbms_utility.lname_array;
5 begin
6 dbms_utility.comma_to_table
7 ( list => l_input
8 , tablen => l_count
9 , tab => l_array
10 );
11 dbms_output.put_line(l_count);
12 for i in 1 .. l_count
13 loop
14 dbms_output.put_line
15 ( 'Element ' || to_char(i) ||
16 ' of array contains: ' ||
17 l_array(i)
18 );
19 end loop;
20 end;
21 /
declare
*
ERROR at line 1:
ORA-00931: missing identifier
ORA-06512: at "SYS.DBMS_UTILITY", line 132
ORA-06512: at "SYS.DBMS_UTILITY", line 164
ORA-06512: at "SYS.DBMS_UTILITY", line 218
ORA-06512: at line 6
But with a little trick to prefix the elements with an 'x', it works:
SQL> declare
2 l_input varchar2(4000) := '1,2,3';
3 l_count binary_integer;
4 l_array dbms_utility.lname_array;
5 begin
6 dbms_utility.comma_to_table
7 ( list => regexp_replace(l_input,'(^|,)','\1x')
8 , tablen => l_count
9 , tab => l_array
10 );
11 dbms_output.put_line(l_count);
12 for i in 1 .. l_count
13 loop
14 dbms_output.put_line
15 ( 'Element ' || to_char(i) ||
16 ' of array contains: ' ||
17 substr(l_array(i),2)
18 );
19 end loop;
20 end;
21 /
3
Element 1 of array contains: 1
Element 2 of array contains: 2
Element 3 of array contains: 3
PL/SQL procedure successfully completed.
Regards,
Rob.

Answer 3

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

Answer 4

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.

Answer 5

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;

Answer 6

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, steven#stevenfeuerstein.com
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;
/

Answer 7

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>

Answer 8

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...

Answer 9

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.

Answer 10

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;

Answer 11

I just want to write more clearly Richard and Mike's answers.
Method 1: VARRAY USAGE
DECLARE
TYPE v_array_type IS VARRAY (10) OF NUMBER;
var v_array_type;
begin
select to_number(column_value) BULK COLLECT into var from
xmltable('1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10');
for i in 1..var.count LOOP
dbms_output.put_line(var(i));
END LOOP;
end;
But in this method you must declare array size. If you want more dynamic method you could use Mike's method.
METHOD 2:
begin
FOR obj IN (SELECT TO_NUMBER(column_value) as ID FROM
xmltable('1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11')) LOOP
dbms_output.put_line(obj.ID);
END LOOP;
end;

Answer 12

you can use oracle method
declare
myarray apex_application_global.vc_arr2;
begin
myarray = apex_util.string_to_table('1,2,3', ',');//you can use any symbols instead of ',' for split
for i in 1..myarray.COUNT
loop
dbms_output.put_line(myarray(i));
end loop;

Answer 13

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...

Answer 14

The solution presented below by Stewart Ashton in this link is pretty handy.
He eliminates the need for the value list to be integer, so you can use string list.
In the WITH clause, he surrounds the values with single quotes then converts it to a table having a single column of type VARCHAR2.
https://stewashton.wordpress.com
with data as (
select '"'||replace(:txt, ',', '","')||'"' str from dual
)
select xmlcast(column_value as varchar2(4000)) subs
from data, xmltable(str);

Answer 15

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

Answer 16

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;

Answer 17

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.