Have you ever wondered how to view the result from a SQL Server query as XML output? In this blog post, we will explore the concept of XML output in SQL Server and how it can be useful in certain scenarios.
Let’s start by looking at an example from the Employee table. If you have run the reset script for this chapter, you should see 14 JProCo employees showing in your Employee table. Now, let’s add the FOR XML RAW clause to view the result from the Employee table as an XML output using the raw mode.
By default, every row of our XML RAW output is labeled “row”. To make our output more readable and organized, we can add the keyword ROOT to our existing code. This will add a root node to our XML output, making it considered “well-formed XML”.
Now, let’s put the data into elements. Each employee will have three sub-elements under the top element, which is “row”. However, there may be cases where a field in SQL Server includes a null value for some records. In such cases, the XML output may have missing tags for the null records.
To force an XML tag to be present for every field in the query, even if the underlying data has NULL field values, we can use the XSINIL option. This option will ensure that all tags are present for all fields of all records, including those with null values.
For example, let’s consider John Marshbank, who has a NULL LocationID. Without the XSINIL option, the LocationID tag would be missing for John Marshbank. However, by adding the XSINIL option to our code, we can make the LocationID tag appear for John Marshbank, with the value xsi:nil=”true” indicating the NULL value.
It’s important to note that without the XSINIL option, null values from the result set may either error out or appear as empty tags. With the XSINIL option, tags are present for all fields, even if they have no data.
Understanding XML output in SQL Server can be beneficial when working with programs or policies that require specific data elements to be present in the XML output. By utilizing the XSINIL option, you can ensure that all tags are present, even for fields with null values.
Thank you for reading this blog post. We hope you found it informative and helpful in understanding XML output in SQL Server.
Question 30: Without XSINIL, what happens to null values from your result set?
- They error out since XSINIL does not allow nulls.
- They appear as empty tags.
- No tags are present for null values.
Please leave your answer in the comment section below with the correct option, explanation, and your country of residence. Every day, one winner will be announced from the United States and one winner from India. The contest is open until the next blog post shows up, which is the next day GTM+2.5.