SQL Server Portal

Sometimes, we need to create insert into statements from a table (SQL Server) data for support ,testing or updating multiple instances etc. Given below stored procedure can generate the data from a table.
In this stored procedure, we will not create a traditional insert into … Values ().Instead of this statement we will use Insert into … select * …. The advantage is we can select the records before insertion to see what we will insert into the table.
(Note: This script can generate “insert into statement” for any table (SQL Server 2005 and above) having 296 or less columns & compatible with CS collation.
Given below are the datatype supported by this stored procedure).

• tinyint
• smallint
• int
• bigint
• bit
• char
• varchar
• nchar
• nvarchar
• datetime
• smalldatetime
• money
• smallmoney
• decimal
• numeric
• real
• float
• binary
• varbinary
• uniqueidentifier

This procedure will create different “insert into statement” for different scenarios.

-- For less than 500 records. We will use this statement.(If we use this statement for more than 500 records, It might reduce the performance.)
Insert into ...
Select .... Union ALL
Select .... Union ALL

OR

-- For more than 500 records seperate queries for seperate select statements.
Insert into ...
Select ....

Other features of this scripts are :

• You can use a where clause to generate only filtered data.
• You can provide a top Number to filter a top number of records.

Let me explain this issue demonstrating simple example.

CREATE TABLE [dbo].[Student](
[Sno] [int] NOT NULL,
[Student ID] nvarchar(6) Not NULL ,
[Student name] [varchar](50) NOT NULL,
[Date of Birth]  datetime not null,
[Weight] [int] NULL)
GO

Insert into dbo.[Student] values (1,'STD001','Bob','2003-12-31',70)
Insert into dbo.[Student] values (2,'STD002','Alexander','2004-11-15',80)
Insert into dbo.[Student] values (3,'STD003','Hosanna','2005-10-05',82)
Insert into dbo.[Student] values (4,'STD004','William','2006-09-03',55)
Insert into dbo.[Student] values (5,'STD005','Hulda','2007-08-01',35)
Insert into dbo.[Student] values (6,'STD006','Jacoba','2008-07-18',30)

Now, you need to create this procedure to generate “insert into statement” from table data.

CREATE PROCEDURE SAMPLE_DATA_PROC
@SchemaName VARCHAR(MAX),
@TableName VARCHAR(Max),
@WhereClause NVARCHAR(Max),
@TopNo INT
AS

DECLARE @SQL VARCHAR(max)
DECLARE @nSQL NVARCHAR(Max)
DECLARE @RecordCount INT
DECLARE @FirstColumn NVARCHAR(Max)

--SET @TableName=QUOTENAME(@TableName) -- Quote the table name
SET @TableName =@SchemaName + '.' + QUOTENAME(@TableName)
Print @TableName

/*We need to find the record count in order to remove Union ALL from the last row*/
SET @nSQL=''
SET @nSQL= N'SELECT @RecordCount=COUNT(*) FROM ' + @TableName + (CASE WHEN ISNULL(@Whereclause,'') <>'' THEN ' Where ' + @Whereclause ELSE '' END)
Print @nSQL
EXEC sp_executesql @query = @nSQL, @params = N'@RecordCount INT OUTPUT', @RecordCount = @RecordCount OUTPUT
/*****************************************************************/

/*Need to check either top No of record is less than record count
in order to remove union all from the last row */
IF @TopNo IS NOT NULL And @TopNo<@RecordCount
BEGIN
SET @RecordCount=@TopNo
END
/***************************************************************/
/*** Here we need to find the first column name to generate a serial number and insert an "Insert into statement" in the first row ***/
SET @nSQL=''
SET @nSQL= N'SELECT @FirstColumn=[name] FROM sys.columns WHERE [Column_id]=1 And object_ID=object_ID('''+ @TableName + ''')'
Print @nSQL
EXEC sp_executesql @query = @nSQL, @params = N'@FirstColumn nvarchar(Max) OUTPUT', @FirstColumn = @FirstColumn OUTPUT
/**************************************************************/

DECLARE @FieldName VARCHAR(max)
SET @FieldName=''

If (Select Count(*) FROM sys.columns WHERE object_id=object_id('' + @TableName + '') And is_identity<>0)=1

BEGIN
SET @FieldName = STUFF(
(
SELECT ',' + QUOTENAME([Name]) FROM sys.columns WHERE object_id=object_id('' + @TableName + '') Order By [column_id]
FOR XML PATH('')), 1, 1, '')
Set @FieldName ='(' + @FieldName + ')'
Print @FieldName
Print len(@FieldName)
END

/*******Create list of comma seperated columns *******/
SET @SQL= (SELECT STUFF((SELECT(CASE
WHEN system_type_id In (167,175,189) THEN + ' Cast(ISNULL(LTRIM(RTRIM(''N''''''+Replace(' + QUOTENAME([Name])+ ','''''''','''''''''''')+'''''''''+ ')),''NULL'') as varchar(max)) + '' AS ' + QUOTENAME([Name]) + ''' + '' ,'''+'+ '
WHEN system_type_id In (231,239) THEN + ' Cast(ISNULL(LTRIM(RTRIM(''N''''''+Replace(' + QUOTENAME([Name])+ ','''''''','''''''''''')+'''''''''+ ')),''NULL'') as nvarchar(max)) + '' AS ' + QUOTENAME([Name]) + ''' + '' ,'''+'+ '
WHEN system_type_id In (58,61,36) THEN + ' ISNULL(LTRIM(RTRIM(''N'''''' + Cast(' + QUOTENAME([Name])+ ' as varchar(max))+''''''''' + ')),''NULL'') + '' AS ' + QUOTENAME([Name]) + '''+ '' ,'''+' + '
WHEN system_type_id In (48,52,56,59,60,62,104,106,108,122,127) THEN + ' ISNULL(Cast(' + QUOTENAME([Name])+ ' as varchar(max)),''NULL'')+ '' AS ' + QUOTENAME([Name]) + ''' + '' ,'''+'+ '
END
)
FROM
sys.columns WHERE object_ID=object_ID(''+ @TableName + '') FOR XML PATH('')),1,1,' '))

/*******************************************************/

/* Here 500 means if the record count is 500 or top no 500 then it will generate "Insert into select ..Union All "
Because more than 500 might reduce its performance. */
IF @TopNo <500 or @RecordCount<500
BEGIN
IF @TopNo IS NULL
BEGIN
SET @SQl='SELECT (Case When ROW_NUMBER() OVER (ORDER BY ' + QUOTENAME(@FirstColumn) + ') =1 THEN '' INSERT INTO ' + @TableName + ' ' + ' '+ @FieldName + ' ''' + ' ELSE '''' END) + ''SELECT ''+' + Left(@SQL,Len(@SQL)-8) + ' + (CASE WHEN ROW_NUMBER() OVER (ORDER BY ' + QUOTENAME(@FirstColumn) + ') <>' + CONVERT(VARCHAR(10),@RecordCount) + ' THEN '' UNION ALL'' ELSE '''' END) AS [DATA] ' + ' FROM ' + @TableName +(CASE WHEN ISNULL(@Whereclause,'') <>'' THEN ' WHERE ' + @Whereclause ELSE '' END)
END
ELSE
BEGIN
SET @SQl= 'SELECT TOP ' + CONVERT(VARCHAR(10),@TopNo) + ' (CASE WHEN ROW_NUMBER() OVER (ORDER BY ' + QUOTENAME(@FirstColumn) + ') =1 THEN '' INSERT INTO ' + @TableName + ' ' + ' '+ @FieldName + '''' + ' ELSE '''' END) + ''SELECT ''+' + LEFT(@SQL,LEN(@SQL)-8) + ' + (CASE WHEN ROW_NUMBER() OVER (ORDER BY ' + QUOTENAME(@FirstColumn) + ') <>' + CONVERT(VARCHAR(10),@RecordCount) + ' THEN '' Union All'' ELSE '''' END) AS [DATA]' + ' FROM ' + @TableName + (CASE WHEN ISNULL(@Whereclause,'') <>'' THEN ' WHERE ' + @Whereclause ELSE '' END)
END
END
ELSE
--- Greator then 500 will generate "insert into select *" ... for each record.
BEGIN
IF @TopNo IS NULL
BEGIN
SET @SQl='SELECT '' INSERT INTO ' + @TableName + ' ' + ' '+ @FieldName + ' '' + ''SELECT ''+' + Left(@SQL,Len(@SQL)-8) + ' AS [DATA] ' + ' FROM ' + @TableName +(CASE WHEN ISNULL(@Whereclause,'') <>'' THEN ' WHERE ' + @Whereclause ELSE '' END)
END
ELSE
BEGIN
SET @SQl='SELECT TOP ' + CONVERT(VARCHAR(10),@TopNo) + ''' INSERT INTO ' + @TableName + ' ' + ' '+ @FieldName + ' '' + ''SELECT ''+' + Left(@SQL,Len(@SQL)-8) + ' AS [DATA] ' + ' FROM ' + @TableName +(CASE WHEN ISNULL(@Whereclause,'') <>'' THEN ' WHERE ' + @Whereclause ELSE '' END)
END
END
EXEC (@SQL)
GO

How to use this stored procedure

--Example 1 : When you need to generate "insert into statement" from all records within a table.
SAMPLE_DATA_PROC 'dbo','Student',NULL,NULL
GO
--Example 2 : When you need to generate "insert into statement" from top 5 records within a table.
SAMPLE_DATA_PROC 'dbo','Student',NULL,3
GO
--Example 3 : When you need to generate "insert into statement" with a specific filter (Single filter) within a table.
SAMPLE_DATA_PROC 'dbo','Student','[SNO]=1',NULL
GO
--Example 4 : When you need to generate "insert into statement" with a specific filter (Multiple filters) within a table.
SAMPLE_DATA_PROC 'dbo','Student','[SNO]=1  And [Student Name]=''Bob''',NULL
GO

If you execute example 1 : you will get all the date in the specified table like this

Now, you can comment “INSERT INTO [Student]” to view the data and uncomment it to insert data into the table.

-- INSERT INTO [Student]
SELECT 1 AS [Sno] ,N'STD001' AS [Student ID] ,N'Bob' AS [Student name] ,N'Dec 31 2003 12:00AM' AS [Date of Birth] ,70 AS [Weight] UNION ALL
SELECT 2 AS [Sno] ,N'STD002' AS [Student ID] ,N'Alexander' AS [Student name] ,N'Nov 15 2004 12:00AM' AS [Date of Birth] ,80 AS [Weight] UNION ALL
SELECT 3 AS [Sno] ,N'STD003' AS [Student ID] ,N'Hosanna' AS [Student name] ,N'Oct  5 2005 12:00AM' AS [Date of Birth] ,82 AS [Weight] UNION ALL
SELECT 4 AS [Sno] ,N'STD004' AS [Student ID] ,N'William' AS [Student name] ,N'Sep  3 2006 12:00AM' AS [Date of Birth] ,55 AS [Weight] UNION ALL
SELECT 5 AS [Sno] ,N'STD005' AS [Student ID] ,N'Hulda' AS [Student name] ,N'Aug  1 2007 12:00AM' AS [Date of Birth] ,35 AS [Weight] UNION ALL
SELECT 6 AS [Sno] ,N'STD006' AS [Student ID] ,N'Jacoba' AS [Student name] ,N'Jul 18 2008 12:00AM' AS [Date of Birth] ,30 AS [Weight]

If you have an identity column in the table, you need to add these two lines.

SET IDENTITY_INSERT Student ON  --(Before insert into statement)
GO
SET IDENTITY_INSERT Student OFF --(In the end of the statement)
GO

I’d really appreciate your comments on my posts, whether you agree or not, do comment.