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>

See Also

Use EXPLICIT Mode with FOR XML