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Discover effective methods to prevent extra whitespace when using Teradata's XMLCONCAT and XMLAGG in your SQL queries for cleaner results.
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How to Avoid Extra Whitespace in Teradata's XMLCONCAT and XMLAGG

Working with Teradata's XMLAGG and XMLCONCAT can sometimes lead to an unexpected formatting issue: extra whitespace between concatenated elements in your output. This can be particularly frustrating when you aim for a clean and compact result, especially in data presentations or reports. In this guide, we'll explore a practical solution to eliminate this whitespace artifact, ensuring your SQL results appear exactly as desired.

Understanding the Problem

When you use XMLAGG or XMLCONCAT, Teradata often inserts undesired spaces between concatenated values. For example, running the following SQL query:

[[See Video to Reveal this Text or Code Snippet]]

produces the following output:

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As shown, both columns contain spaces between the numbers. Your aim may be to achieve results that look like this:

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The Solution

To tackle the issue of unwanted whitespace, we can utilize a clever workaround. By introducing an "impossible" sequence of characters during the concatenation and removing that from the final result, we can achieve a cleaner output.

Step-by-Step Implementation

Create a Temporary Sequence: In your concatenation process, introduce a sequence of characters that is unlikely to appear in your data, such as '# # '.

Perform the Concatenation: Use XMLCONCAT or XMLAGG to concatenate your values while embedding the "impossible" sequence to separate them.

Remove the Temporary Sequence: After obtaining the concatenated result, use the OREPLACE function to eliminate the sequences inserted in the previous step.

Here's how this would look in SQL:

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Result Verification

After implementing the above SQL, your output will now be:

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This method effectively prevents the undesirable whitespace, giving you a clean and compact numerical output.

Conclusion

Managing whitespace in SQL concatenation can be a common challenge when working with Teradata's XMLAGG and XMLCONCAT. By employing the method of inserting and later removing an impossible sequence, you can ensure your concatenated results remain neat and visually appealing. This approach not only resolves the whitespace issue but also enhances the overall readability of your data outputs.

If you face similar challenges or have any questions regarding SQL functions in Teradata, feel free to reach out in the comments below!