Example: Constructing Siblings with EXPLICIT Mode
Assume that you want to construct XML that provides sales order information. Note that <SalesPerson> and <OrderDetail> elements are siblings. Each Order has one <OrderHeader> element, one <SalesPerson> element, and one or more <OrderDetail> elements.
<OrderHeader SalesOrderID=... OrderDate=... CustomerID=... >
<SalesPerson SalesPersonID=... />
<OrderDetail SalesOrderID=... LineTotal=... ProductID=... OrderQty=... />
<OrderDetail SalesOrderID=... LineTotal=... ProductID=... OrderQty=.../>
...
</OrderHeader>
<OrderHeader ...</OrderHeader>
The following EXPLICIT mode query constructs this XML. Note that the query specifies Tag values of 1 for the <OrderHeader> element, 2 for the <SalesPerson> element, and 3 for the <OrderDetail> element. Because <SalesPerson> and <OrderDetail> are siblings, the query specifies the same Parent tag value of 1 identifying the <OrderHeader> element.
USE AdventureWorks2012;
GO
SELECT 1 as Tag,
0 as Parent,
SalesOrderID as [OrderHeader!1!SalesOrderID],
OrderDate as [OrderHeader!1!OrderDate],
CustomerID as [OrderHeader!1!CustomerID],
NULL as [SalesPerson!2!SalesPersonID],
NULL as [OrderDetail!3!SalesOrderID],
NULL as [OrderDetail!3!LineTotal],
NULL as [OrderDetail!3!ProductID],
NULL as [OrderDetail!3!OrderQty]
FROM Sales.SalesOrderHeader
WHERE SalesOrderID=43659 or SalesOrderID=43661
UNION ALL
SELECT 2 as Tag,
1 as Parent,
SalesOrderID,
NULL,
NULL,
SalesPersonID,
NULL,
NULL,
NULL,
NULL
FROM Sales.SalesOrderHeader
WHERE SalesOrderID=43659 or SalesOrderID=43661
UNION ALL
SELECT 3 as Tag,
1 as Parent,
SOD.SalesOrderID,
NULL,
NULL,
SalesPersonID,
SOH.SalesOrderID,
LineTotal,
ProductID,
OrderQty
FROM Sales.SalesOrderHeader SOH,Sales.SalesOrderDetail SOD
WHERE SOH.SalesOrderID = SOD.SalesOrderID
AND (SOH.SalesOrderID=43659 or SOH.SalesOrderID=43661)
ORDER BY [OrderHeader!1!SalesOrderID], [SalesPerson!2!SalesPersonID],
[OrderDetail!3!SalesOrderID],[OrderDetail!3!LineTotal]
FOR XML EXPLICIT;
This is the partial result:
<OrderHeader SalesOrderID="43659" OrderDate="2005-07-01T00:00:00" CustomerID="676">
<SalesPerson SalesPersonID="279" />
<OrderDetail SalesOrderID="43659" LineTotal="10.373000" ProductID="712" OrderQty="2" />
<OrderDetail SalesOrderID="43659" LineTotal="28.840400" ProductID="716" OrderQty="1" />
<OrderDetail SalesOrderID="43659" LineTotal="34.200000" ProductID="709" OrderQty="6" />
...
</OrderHeader>
<OrderHeader SalesOrderID="43661" OrderDate="2005-07-01T00:00:00" CustomerID="442">
<SalesPerson SalesPersonID="282" />
<OrderDetail SalesOrderID="43661" LineTotal="20.746000" ProductID="712" OrderQty="4" />
<OrderDetail SalesOrderID="43661" LineTotal="40.373000" ProductID="711" OrderQty="2" />
...
</OrderHeader>