How to Optimize SQL Queries for Tables with Comma-Separated Values?

Optimizing SQL Queries for Tables with Comma-Separated Column Values

When dealing with tables where a column contains comma-separated values, executing specific queries can be challenging. A common scenario is retrieving all related data when searching for specific values within the comma-separated column.

Issue:

You need to retrieve all usernames associated with a particular value in a comma-separated column. For instance, from the table structure below, you want to find all usernames when you search for "new1."

Tables:

CREATE TABLE tblA
(
id int NOT NULL AUTO_INCREMENT ,
user varchar(255),
category int(255),
PRIMARY KEY (id)
);

CREATE TABLE tblB
(
id int NOT NULL AUTO_INCREMENT ,
username varchar(255),
userid int(255),
PRIMARY KEY (id)
);

CREATE TABLE tblC
(
id int NOT NULL AUTO_INCREMENT ,
nname varchar(255),
userids varchar(255),
PRIMARY KEY (id)
);

INSERT INTO tblA (user, category ) VALUES
('1', '1'),
('1', '2'),
('1', '3'),
('1', '1'),
('2', '1'),
('2', '1'),
('2', '1'),
('2', '1'),
('3', '1'),
('2', '1'),
('4', '1'),
('4', '1'),
('2', '1');


INSERT INTO tblB (userid, username ) VALUES
('1', 'A'),
('2', 'B'),
('3', 'C'),
('4', 'D'),
('5', 'E');


INSERT INTO tblC (id, nname,userids ) VALUES
('1', 'new1','1,2'),
('2', 'new2','1,3'),
('3', 'new3','1,4'),
('4', 'new4','3,2'),
('5', 'new5','5,2');

Query:

select * where nname="new1" from  tblC
CROSS JOIN tblB
ON tblB.userid=(SELECT userids FROM substr(tblC.userids,','))

Limitations:

This query relies on the SUBSTR and FIND_IN_SET functions, which can be inefficient for large datasets. Moreover, it assumes only one comma-separated value per row, which may not always be the case.

Recommended Solution:

Database Normalization:

Normalize your database schema by creating a separate table for the comma-separated values. This eliminates the inefficiency of searching through strings and simplifies querying.

Example Schema:

CREATE TABLE tblC (
id int NOT NULL AUTO_INCREMENT ,
nname varchar(255),
PRIMARY KEY (id)
);

CREATE TABLE tblC_user (
c_id int NOT NULL,
userid int NOT NULL
);

INSERT INTO tblC (id, nname) VALUES
('1', 'new1'),
('2', 'new2'),
('3', 'new3'),
('4', 'new4'),
('5', 'new5');

INSERT INTO tblC_user (c_id, userid) VALUES
('1','1'),
('1','2'),
('2','1'),
('2','3'),
('3','1'),
('3','4'),
('4','3'),
('4','2'),
('5','5'),
('5','2');

Optimized Query:

select *
from tblC c
join tblC_user cu on(c.id = cu.c_id)
join tblB b on (b.userid = cu.userid)
where c.nname="new1"

Benefits:

• Improved performance due to efficient join operations
• Reduced complexity by eliminating string manipulation functions
• Maintainability and flexibility in accommodating future changes to the data structure

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