Inserting an array into sql server table

Question

create proc InsertTagsForArticle(@ArticleID int, @TagIDsList nvarchar(max))
as
--...........

The parameter @TagsList contains IDs of tags separated by comma: "18,22, 23". How to insert these IDs into table by more rational way?

EDIT: The question is how to insert an array into sql server table, but not how to parse an array. It's something like foreach operator.

Answer 1

As SQL server doesn't support native arrays, there's not much that you can do.

• Serialize this array and store in a field.
• Create child table / relations and store individual records there.

Your requirements will dictate what's better for you. But usually normalized approach is working better.

Answer 2

You need to use e.g. a user-defined function that splits the comma-separated string into a table - see e.g. here:

SQL Server Helper - Comma-Delimited Value to Table

or many more available on the interwegs - just Google or Bing for "split comma-separated string into table" and you'll have thousands of hits....