SSMS: How to import (Copy/Paste) data from excel

Question

How to Copy/Paste following delimited data (by default delimited with tab) from excel:

declare @t_values   nvarchar(max)   =                   
N'                
NULL    490366  NULL    NULL
NULL    490400  NULL    NULL
NULL    490402  NULL    NULL
483061  490404  10  abc1
NULL    490406  NULL    NULL
9766167 490408  3   abc2'
;

To my temp table:

CREATE TABLE #insertTable
(   transaction_id int     
   ,user_id        int 
   ,purchase_price decimal(8,2) 
   ,mess           varchar(8)
);

?

NB! Without using OPENROWSET

SOLUTIONS FOR INSERT INTO:

QUERY
PROCEDURE
SNIPPET (fast way to creae snippets HERE)

SOLUTIONS FOR SELECT INTO:

QUERY
SNIPPET (fast way to creae snippets HERE)

P.S. If you have old SQL Server version (database compatibility set is under 130), you will need separately STRING_SPLIT function. I recommend following solution.

score 0 · Answer 1 · answered Apr 03 '20 at 13:05

Please use following PROC:

CREATE PROCEDURE dbo.p_values2insertquery
    @t_name   nvarchar(128),                   -- Destination Table Name + [(column names)]
    @t_values nvarchar(max),                   -- Paste Table Values here (from excel for instance)    
    @dlm      nvarchar(128)   = N'  '          -- Delimiter: HT = HorizontalTab = char(9)
AS
/*  p_values2insertquery
        - converts table values stored in @t_values string (separated by default by @dlm=TAB)
          to queries for insert to  table name defined in @t_name


    INPUT:
        @t_name   nvarchar(128),                   -- Destination Table Name + [(column names)]
        @t_values nvarchar(max),                   -- Paste Table Values here (from excel for instance)    
        @dlm      nvarchar(128)   = N'  '          -- Delimiter: HT = HorizontalTab = char(9)

    -- NB! Script do NOT write any ifo to any table
    -- to perform insert please copy/paste script output and execute            


    EXAMPLE:

        IF OBJECT_ID('tempdb..#insertTable') IS NOT NULL DROP TABLE #insertTable;
        CREATE TABLE #insertTable
        (   transaction_id int     
           ,user_id        int 
           ,purchase_price decimal(8,2) 
           ,mess           varchar(8)
        );

        declare @t_name     nvarchar(128)   = '#insertTable'    -- Table Name for insert
        declare @t_values   nvarchar(max)   =                   -- Paste Table Values here (from excel for instance)
        N'                
        NULL    490366  NULL    NULL
        NULL    490400  NULL    NULL
        NULL    490402  NULL    NULL
        483061  490404  10  abc1
        NULL    490406  NULL    NULL
        9766167 490408  3   abc2'
        ;
        declare @dlm        nvarchar(128)   = char(9);          -- Delimiter: HT = char(9) = HorizontalTab

        exec p_values2insertquery @t_name, @t_values

     -- Output:
     insert into #insertTable VALUES(NULL,'490366',NULL,NULL);
     insert into #insertTable VALUES(NULL,'490400',NULL,NULL);
     insert into #insertTable VALUES(NULL,'490402',NULL,NULL);
     insert into #insertTable VALUES('483061','490404','10','abc1');
     insert into #insertTable VALUES(NULL,'490406',NULL,NULL);
     insert into #insertTable VALUES('9766167','490408','3','abc2');
*/
    select N'insert into '
            + @t_name               -- table name
            + ' VALUES(' 
            + replace               -- replace 'NULL' by NULL
              ( '''' 
                 + replace          -- surround values by quotes 'value1','value2'...
                   (    value
                   ,    @dlm        -- Delimiter: HT = char(9) = HorizontalTab
                   ,    ''','''
                   ) 
                 + ''''
              , '''NULL'''  
              , 'NULL'      
              )                                              
            + ');' as insertQuery
    --into #t 
    from string_split               -- insert Line per Row into table
         (  replace                 -- replace CR + LF by LF  (CR - Carriage Return, LF - Line Feed)
            (   @t_values           -- Paste Table Values here (from excel for instance)
            , char(13)+char(10)     -- CR + LF
            , char(10)              -- LF
            )
         ,char(10)
         ) 
    where len(value)>0              -- skip empty rows
    ;

/* the same, but step by step (for explanatory purposes):
IF OBJECT_ID('tempdb..#t') IS NOT NULL DROP TABLE #t;

select @t_values=replace(@t_values,char(13)+char(10), char(10))           ;    -- replace CR + LF by LF  (CR - Carriage Return, LF - Line Feed)
select value into #t from string_split(@t_values,char(10))                ;    -- insert Line per Row into table
delete from #t where len(value)<1                                         ;    -- delete empty lines

update #t set value =  '''' + replace(value,  @dlm, ''',''') + '''';            -- surround values by quotes 'value1','value2'...
update #t set value =      replace(value, '''NULL''', 'NULL');                  -- replace 'NULL' by NULL
update #t set value = N'insert into '+ @t_name + ' VALUES(' + value + ');'

select * from #t
*/
RETURN 0

Example:

IF OBJECT_ID('tempdb..#insertTable') IS NOT NULL DROP TABLE #insertTable;
CREATE TABLE #insertTable
(   transaction_id int     
   ,user_id        int 
   ,purchase_price decimal(8,2) 
   ,mess           varchar(8)
);

declare @t_name     nvarchar(128)   = '#insertTable'    -- Table Name for insert
declare @t_values   nvarchar(max)   =                   -- Paste Table Values here (from excel for instance)
N'                
NULL    490366  NULL    NULL
NULL    490400  NULL    NULL
NULL    490402  NULL    NULL
483061  490404  10  abc1
NULL    490406  NULL    NULL
9766167 490408  3   abc2'
;
declare @dlm        nvarchar(128)   = char(9);          -- Delimiter: HT = char(9) = HorizontalTab

exec p_values2insertquery @t_name, @t_values

Output (just Copy/Paste and execute to perform insert):

insert into #insertTable VALUES(NULL,'490366',NULL,NULL);
insert into #insertTable VALUES(NULL,'490400',NULL,NULL);
insert into #insertTable VALUES(NULL,'490402',NULL,NULL);
insert into #insertTable VALUES('483061','490404','10','abc1');
insert into #insertTable VALUES(NULL,'490406',NULL,NULL);
insert into #insertTable VALUES('9766167','490408','3','abc2');

Denis · Answer 2 · 2020-04-06T13:00:30.770

If by some reason you don't want to use PROC (no permissions for instance), you can use snippet instead.

Please save this code as file with extension .snippet and add it to your snippets through Code Snippets Manager:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8" ?>
<CodeSnippets  xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/VisualStudio/2005/CodeSnippet">
    <CodeSnippet Format="1.0.0">
        <Header>
            <Title>InsertTable</Title>    <!--InsertTable.snippet -copy/paste for filename-->
            <Shortcut></Shortcut>
            <Description>Prepare Copy/Paste Excel data for inserting to Table</Description>
            <Author>Denis Sipchenko</Author>
            <SnippetTypes>
                <SnippetType>SurroundsWith</SnippetType>    <!--SurroundsWith/Expansion-->
            </SnippetTypes>
        </Header>
        <Snippet>
            <Declarations>
                <Literal> <ID>t_name</ID>     <Default>'#insertTable'</Default>     <ToolTip>Destination Table Name [(column names)]</ToolTip>                            </Literal>
                <Literal> <ID>t_values</ID>   <Default></Default>                   <ToolTip>copy/paste Excel data here</ToolTip>                        </Literal>
                <Literal> <ID>delimiter</ID>  <Default>char(9)</Default>            <ToolTip>Column Delimiter: HT = char(9) = HorizontalTab</ToolTip>    </Literal>
            </Declarations>
            <Code Language="SQL">
                <![CDATA[-- NB! Script do NOT write any ifo to any table
-- to perform insert please copy/paste script output and execute

declare @tbl_name   nvarchar(128)   = $t_name$;     -- Destination Table Name + [(column names)]
declare @dlm        nvarchar(128)   = $delimiter$;  -- Delimiter: HT = char(9) = HorizontalTab
declare @tbl        nvarchar(max)   =               -- Paste Table Values here (from excel for instance)
N'$t_values$'
;

select N'insert into '
        + @tbl_name             -- table name
        + ' VALUES(' 
        + replace               -- replace 'NULL' by NULL
          ( '''' 
             + replace          -- surround values by quotes 'value1','value2'...
               (    value
               ,    @dlm        -- Delimiter: HT = char(9) = HorizontalTab
               ,    ''','''
               ) 
             + ''''
          , '''NULL'''  
          , 'NULL'      
          )                                              
        + ');' as insertquery
--into #t 
from string_split            -- insert Line per Row into table
     (  replace                 -- replace CR + LF by LF  (CR - Carriage Return, LF - Line Feed)
        (   @tbl                -- Paste Table Values here (from excel for instance)
        , char(13)+char(10)     -- CR + LF
        , char(10)              -- LF
        )
     ,char(10)
     ) 
where len(value)>0              -- skip empty rows


$selected$$end$
]]>
            </Code>
        </Snippet>
    </CodeSnippet>
</CodeSnippets>

Screen:

Denis · Accepted Answer · 2021-04-22T13:12:10.440

Please try following:

-- NB! Script do NOT write any ifo to any table
-- to perform insert please copy/paste script output to the @tbl variable and execute

declare @tbl_name   nvarchar(128)   = '#insertTable';     -- Destination Table Name + [(column names)]
declare @dlm        nvarchar(128)   = char(9);  -- Delimiter: HT = char(9) = HorizontalTab
declare @tbl        nvarchar(max)   =               -- Paste Table Values here (from excel for instance)
N'NULL    490366  NULL    NULL
NULL    490400  NULL    NULL
NULL    490402  NULL    NULL
483061  490404  10  abc1
NULL    490406  NULL    NULL
9766167 490408  3   abc2'
;

select N'insert into '
        + @tbl_name             -- table name
        + ' VALUES(' 
        + replace               -- replace 'NULL' by NULL
          ( '''' 
             + replace          -- surround values by quotes 'value1','value2'...
               (    value
               ,    @dlm        -- Delimiter: HT = char(9) = HorizontalTab
               ,    ''','''
               ) 
             + ''''
          , '''NULL'''  
          , 'NULL'      
          )                                              
        + ');' as insertquery
--into #t 
from fn_split_string            -- insert Line per Row into table
     (  replace                 -- replace CR + LF by LF  (CR - Carriage Return, LF - Line Feed)
        (   @tbl                -- Paste Table Values here (from excel for instance)
        , char(13)+char(10)     -- CR + LF
        , char(10)              -- LF
        )
     ,char(10)
     ) 
where len(value)>0              -- skip empty rows

Denis · Answer 4 · 2020-06-04T19:52:09.877

Query for select into temporary table:

-- PURPOSE: create temp table with values pasted from Excel (or any other CSV source)
-- NB! Script do NOT write any ifo to any table
-- to perform insert please copy/paste script output SelectInto column and execute
-- NB! Current script works only for tables with RowNumbers < 1000

declare @tmp_tbl_name   nvarchar(max)   = N'#t';    -- Destination Table Name 
declare @tmp_clm_name   nvarchar(max)   = NULL;     -- comma separated COLUMN Names; if NOT defined (NULL) - takes from 1st data row
declare @dlm            nvarchar(128)   = char(9);  -- Delimiter: HT = char(9) = HorizontalTab
declare @eol            nvarchar( 2 )   = N'
';                                                  -- EndOfLine
declare @tbl            nvarchar(max)   =           -- Paste Table Values here (from excel for instance)
N'CopyPasteExcelTableHere'
;

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
declare @FirstRow  nvarchar(max); 
declare @LastRow   nvarchar(max); 

SET @tbl =     REPLACE               -- replace EndOfLine by LF  (CR - Carriage Return, LF - Line Feed)
                ( @tbl                  -- Paste Table Values here (from excel for instance)
                , @eol                  -- EndOfLine
                , char(10)              -- LF
                )
;

IF @tmp_clm_name is NULL    --> 1st row contains column names
    BEGIN
        SET @tmp_clm_name = left(@tbl, charindex(char(10), @tbl)-1);
        SET @tbl          = stuff(@tbl, 1, len(@tmp_clm_name)+1, '');
        SET @tmp_clm_name = '[' + REPLACE(@tmp_clm_name, @dlm, '],[') + ']';
    END
;

SET @FirstRow  = N'IF OBJECT_ID(''tempdb..'+@tmp_tbl_name+''') IS NOT NULL DROP TABLE '+ @tmp_tbl_name + ';'
        + @eol + N'-- select '+ @tmp_clm_name+' from #t;'
        + @eol + N'SELECT * INTO ' +  @tmp_tbl_name + N' FROM '
        + @eol + N'(VALUES '                            
;

SET @LastRow    = N') t('+ @tmp_clm_name +');'        
;

;with v as
(  select  --row_number()  over(order by insertquery),            
             ',(' 
            + replace               -- replace 'NULL' by NULL
              ( '''' 
                 + replace          -- surround values by quotes 'value1','value2'...
                   (    value
                   ,    @dlm        -- Delimiter: HT = char(9) = HorizontalTab
                   ,    ''','''
                   ) 
                 + ''''
              , '''NULL'''  
              , 'NULL'      
              )                                              
            + ')' as insertvalues
    --into #t 
    from  string_split(@tbl, char(10))   -- insert Line per Row into table
    where len(value)>0                   -- skip empty rows
),
rv as -- adding RowID column (have to identify 1st row to remove 1st character)
(   select (ROW_NUMBER() OVER(ORDER BY insertvalues)) as RowID, *  
    from v
)
          select 1 as RowID                  , @FirstRow as SelectInto 
union all select 1 +  RowID                  , case when RowID=1 then stuff(insertvalues,1,1,' ') else insertvalues end from rv
union all select 2 +(select count(*) from rv), @LastRow 
order by RowID

Denis · Answer 5 · 2020-06-04T20:17:52.780

Snippet for SELECT INTO:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8" ?>
<CodeSnippets  xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/VisualStudio/2005/CodeSnippet">
    <CodeSnippet Format="1.0.0">
        <Header>
            <Title>SelectTable</Title>    <!--SelectTable.snippet -copy/paste for filename-->
            <Shortcut></Shortcut>
            <Description>Prepare Copy/Paste Excel data for exporting to temp table</Description>
            <Author>Denis Sipchenko</Author>
            <SnippetTypes>
                <SnippetType>SurroundsWith</SnippetType>    <!--SurroundsWith/Expansion-->
            </SnippetTypes>
        </Header>
        <Snippet>
            <Declarations>
                <Literal> <ID>t_name</ID>     <Default>#t</Default>                            <ToolTip>Destination Table Name</ToolTip>                            </Literal>
                <Literal> <ID>col_nm</ID>     <Default>NULL</Default>                          <ToolTip>comma separated COLUMN Names</ToolTip>                      </Literal>
                <Literal> <ID>selected</ID>   <Default>CopyPasteExcelTableHere</Default>       <ToolTip>copy/paste Excel data here</ToolTip>                        </Literal>
                <Literal> <ID>delimiter</ID>  <Default>char(9)</Default>                       <ToolTip>Column Delimiter: HT = char(9) = HorizontalTab</ToolTip>    </Literal>
                <Literal> <ID>eol</ID>  <Default>N'
'</Default>                       <ToolTip>EndOfLine</ToolTip>    </Literal>
            </Declarations>
            <Code Language="SQL">
                <![CDATA[-- PURPOSE: create temp table with values pasted from Excel (or any other CSV source)
-- NB! Script do NOT write any ifo to any table
-- to perform insert please copy/paste script output SelectInto column and execute
-- NB! Current script works only for tables with RowNumbers < 1000

declare @tmp_tbl_name   nvarchar(max)   = N'$t_name$';     -- Destination Table Name 
declare @tmp_clm_name   nvarchar(max)   = $col_nm$;     -- comma separated COLUMN Names; if NOT defined (NULL) - takes from 1st data row
declare @tbl            nvarchar(max)   =           -- Paste Table Values here (from excel for instance)
N'$selected$'
;
declare @dlm            nvarchar(128)   = $delimiter$;  -- Delimiter: HT = char(9) = HorizontalTab
declare @eol            nvarchar( 2 )   = N'
';                                                  -- EndOfLine

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
declare @FirstRow  nvarchar(max); 
declare @LastRow   nvarchar(max); 

SET @tbl =     REPLACE               -- replace EndOfLine by LF  (CR - Carriage Return, LF - Line Feed)
                ( @tbl                  -- Paste Table Values here (from excel for instance)
                , @eol                  -- EndOfLine
                , char(10)              -- LF
                )
;

IF @tmp_clm_name is NULL    --> 1st row contains column names
    BEGIN
        SET @tmp_clm_name = left(@tbl, charindex(char(10), @tbl)-1);
        SET @tbl          = stuff(@tbl, 1, len(@tmp_clm_name)+1, '');
        SET @tmp_clm_name = '[' + REPLACE(@tmp_clm_name, @dlm, '],[') + ']';
    END
;

SET @FirstRow  = N'IF OBJECT_ID(''tempdb..'+@tmp_tbl_name+''') IS NOT NULL DROP TABLE '+ @tmp_tbl_name + ';'
        + @eol + N'-- select '+ @tmp_clm_name+' from $t_name$;'
        + @eol + N'SELECT * INTO ' +  @tmp_tbl_name + N' FROM '
        + @eol + N'(VALUES '                            
;

SET @LastRow    = N') t('+ @tmp_clm_name +');'        
;

;with v as
(  select  --row_number()  over(order by insertquery),            
             ',(' 
            + replace               -- replace 'NULL' by NULL
              ( '''' 
                 + replace          -- surround values by quotes 'value1','value2'...
                   (    value
                   ,    @dlm        -- Delimiter: HT = char(9) = HorizontalTab
                   ,    ''','''
                   ) 
                 + ''''
              , '''NULL'''  
              , 'NULL'      
              )                                              
            + ')' as insertvalues
    --into #t 
    from  string_split(@tbl, char(10))   -- insert Line per Row into table
    where len(value)>0                   -- skip empty rows
),
rv as -- adding RowID column (have to identify 1st row to remove 1st character)
(   select (ROW_NUMBER() OVER(ORDER BY insertvalues)) as RowID, *  
    from v
)
          select 1 as RowID                  , @FirstRow as SelectInto 
union all select 1 +  RowID                  , case when RowID=1 then stuff(insertvalues,1,1,' ') else insertvalues end from rv
union all select 2 +(select count(*) from rv), @LastRow 
order by RowID
$end$
]]>
            </Code>
        </Snippet>
    </CodeSnippet>
</CodeSnippets>

Screen:

SSMS: How to import (Copy/Paste) data from excel

5 Answers5

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