How to use GROUP BY to concatenate strings in SQL Server?

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How do I get:

id       Name       Value
1          A          4
1          B          8
2          C          9

to

id          Column
1          A:4, B:8
2          C:9
22 Answers

No CURSOR, WHILE loop, or User-Defined Function needed.

Just need to be creative with FOR XML and PATH.

[Note: This solution only works on SQL 2005 and later. Original question didn't specify the version in use.]

CREATE TABLE #YourTable ([ID] INT, [Name] CHAR(1), [Value] INT)

INSERT INTO #YourTable ([ID],[Name],[Value]) VALUES (1,'A',4)
INSERT INTO #YourTable ([ID],[Name],[Value]) VALUES (1,'B',8)
INSERT INTO #YourTable ([ID],[Name],[Value]) VALUES (2,'C',9)

SELECT 
  [ID],
  STUFF((
    SELECT ', ' + [Name] + ':' + CAST([Value] AS VARCHAR(MAX)) 
    FROM #YourTable 
    WHERE (ID = Results.ID) 
    FOR XML PATH(''),TYPE).value('(./text())[1]','VARCHAR(MAX)')
  ,1,2,'') AS NameValues
FROM #YourTable Results
GROUP BY ID

DROP TABLE #YourTable

SQL Server 2005 and later allow you to create your own custom aggregate functions, including for things like concatenation- see the sample at the bottom of the linked article.

Just to add to what Cade said, this is usually a front-end display thing and should therefore be handled there. I know that sometimes it's easier to write something 100% in SQL for things like file export or other "SQL only" solutions, but most of the times this concatenation should be handled in your display layer.

Don't need a cursor... a while loop is sufficient.

------------------------------
-- Setup
------------------------------

DECLARE @Source TABLE
(
  id int,
  Name varchar(30),
  Value int
)

DECLARE @Target TABLE
(
  id int,
  Result varchar(max) 
)


INSERT INTO @Source(id, Name, Value) SELECT 1, 'A', 4
INSERT INTO @Source(id, Name, Value) SELECT 1, 'B', 8
INSERT INTO @Source(id, Name, Value) SELECT 2, 'C', 9


------------------------------
-- Technique
------------------------------

INSERT INTO @Target (id)
SELECT id
FROM @Source
GROUP BY id

DECLARE @id int, @Result varchar(max)
SET @id = (SELECT MIN(id) FROM @Target)

WHILE @id is not null
BEGIN
  SET @Result = null

  SELECT @Result =
    CASE
      WHEN @Result is null
      THEN ''
      ELSE @Result + ', '
    END + s.Name + ':' + convert(varchar(30),s.Value)
  FROM @Source s
  WHERE id = @id

  UPDATE @Target
  SET Result = @Result
  WHERE id = @id

  SET @id = (SELECT MIN(id) FROM @Target WHERE @id < id)
END

SELECT *
FROM @Target

Using the Stuff and for xml path operator to concatenate rows to string :Group By two columns -->

CREATE TABLE #YourTable ([ID] INT, [Name] CHAR(1), [Value] INT)

INSERT INTO #YourTable ([ID],[Name],[Value]) VALUES (1,'A',4)
INSERT INTO #YourTable ([ID],[Name],[Value]) VALUES (1,'B',8)
INSERT INTO #YourTable ([ID],[Name],[Value]) VALUES (1,'B',5)
INSERT INTO #YourTable ([ID],[Name],[Value]) VALUES (2,'C',9)

-- retrieve each unique id and name columns and concatonate the values into one column
SELECT 
  [ID], 
  STUFF((
    SELECT ', ' + [Name] + ':' + CAST([Value] AS VARCHAR(MAX)) -- CONCATONATES EACH APPLICATION : VALUE SET      
    FROM #YourTable 
    WHERE (ID = Results.ID and Name = results.[name] ) 
    FOR XML PATH(''),TYPE).value('(./text())[1]','VARCHAR(MAX)')
  ,1,2,'') AS NameValues
FROM #YourTable Results
GROUP BY ID


SELECT 
  [ID],[Name] , --these are acting as the group by clause
  STUFF((
    SELECT ', '+  CAST([Value] AS VARCHAR(MAX)) -- CONCATONATES THE VALUES FOR EACH ID NAME COMBINATION 
    FROM #YourTable 
    WHERE (ID = Results.ID and Name = results.[name] ) 
    FOR XML PATH(''),TYPE).value('(./text())[1]','VARCHAR(MAX)')
  ,1,2,'') AS  NameValues
FROM #YourTable Results
GROUP BY ID, name

DROP TABLE #YourTable

Using Replace Function and FOR JSON PATH

SELECT T3.DEPT, REPLACE(REPLACE(T3.ENAME,'{"ENAME":"',''),'"}','') AS ENAME_LIST
FROM (
 SELECT DEPT, (SELECT ENAME AS [ENAME]
        FROM EMPLOYEE T2
        WHERE T2.DEPT=T1.DEPT
        FOR JSON PATH,WITHOUT_ARRAY_WRAPPER) ENAME
    FROM EMPLOYEE T1
    GROUP BY DEPT) T3

For sample data and more ways click here

If you have clr enabled you could use the Group_Concat library from GitHub

Another example without the garbage: ",TYPE).value('(./text())[1]','VARCHAR(MAX)')"

WITH t AS (
    SELECT 1 n, 1 g, 1 v
    UNION ALL 
    SELECT 2 n, 1 g, 2 v
    UNION ALL 
    SELECT 3 n, 2 g, 3 v
)
SELECT g
        , STUFF (
                (
                    SELECT ', ' + CAST(v AS VARCHAR(MAX))
                    FROM t sub_t
                    WHERE sub_t.g = main_t.g
                    FOR XML PATH('')
                )
                , 1, 2, ''
        ) cg
FROM t main_t
GROUP BY g

Input-output is

*************************   ->  *********************
*   n   *   g   *   v   *       *   g   *   cg      *
*   -   *   -   *   -   *       *   -   *   -       *
*   1   *   1   *   1   *       *   1   *   1, 2    *
*   2   *   1   *   2   *       *   2   *   3       *
*   3   *   2   *   3   *       *********************
*************************   

I used this approach which may be easier to grasp. Get a root element, then concat to choices any item with the same ID but not the 'official' name

  Declare @IdxList as Table(id int, choices varchar(max),AisName varchar(255))
  Insert into @IdxLIst(id,choices,AisName)
  Select IdxId,''''+Max(Title)+'''',Max(Title) From [dbo].[dta_Alias] 
 where IdxId is not null group by IdxId
  Update @IdxLIst
    set choices=choices +','''+Title+''''
    From @IdxLIst JOIN [dta_Alias] ON id=IdxId And Title <> AisName
    where IdxId is not null
    Select * from @IdxList where choices like '%,%'

For all my healthcare folks out there:

 
SELECT
s.NOTE_ID
,STUFF ((
        SELECT
           [note_text] + ' ' 
        FROM
            HNO_NOTE_TEXT s1
        WHERE
            (s1.NOTE_ID = s.NOTE_ID)
        ORDER BY [line] ASC
         FOR XML PATH(''),TYPE).value('(./text())[1]','VARCHAR(MAX)')
         ,
        1,
        2,
        '') AS NOTE_TEXT_CONCATINATED
FROM
    HNO_NOTE_TEXT s
    GROUP BY NOTE_ID
 
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