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Example: Specify the ELEMENTXSINIL directive

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Applies to: SQL Server Azure SQL Database Azure SQL Managed Instance

When you specify the ELEMENT directive to retrieve element-centric XML, if the column has a NULL value, the corresponding element isn't generated by the EXPLICIT mode. You can optionally specify the ELEMENTXSINIL directive to request the generating element for NULL values where the xsi:nil attribute is set with the value TRUE.

The following query constructs XML that includes an employee address. For AddressLine2 and City columns, the column names specify the ELEMENTXSINIL directive. This generates the element for NULL values in the AddressLine2 and City columns in the rowset.

USE AdventureWorks2022;
GO
SELECT 1    as Tag,
       NULL as Parent,
       E.BusinessEntityID  as [Employee!1!EmpID],
       BEA.AddressID as [Employee!1!AddressID],
       NULL        as [Address!2!AddressID],
       NULL        as [Address!2!AddressLine1!ELEMENT],
       NULL        as [Address!2!AddressLine2!ELEMENTXSINIL],
       NULL        as [Address!2!City!ELEMENTXSINIL]
FROM   HumanResources.Employee AS E
INNER JOIN Person.BusinessEntityAddress AS BEA
    ON E.BusinessEntityID = BEA.BusinessEntityID

UNION ALL
SELECT 2 as Tag,
       1 as Parent,
       E.BusinessEntityID,
       BEA.AddressID,
       A.AddressID,
       AddressLine1,
       AddressLine2,
       City
FROM   HumanResources.Employee AS E
INNER JOIN Person.BusinessEntityAddress AS BEA
    ON E.BusinessEntityID = BEA.BusinessEntityID
INNER JOIN Person.Address AS A
    ON BEA.AddressID = A.AddressID
ORDER BY [Employee!1!EmpID],[Address!2!AddressID]
FOR XML EXPLICIT;

This is the partial result:

<Employee xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
          EmpID="1"
          AddressID="249">
  <Address AddressID="249">
    <AddressLine1>4350 Minute Dr.</AddressLine1>
    <AddressLine2 xsi:nil="true" />
    <City>Minneapolis</City>
  </Address>
</Employee>
...

See also