In SQL Server, what's the best way to split multiple delimited strings into rows without a function?

Question

I know there are numerous examples of how to split strings in SQL Server. However, they are often for a single delimited string. What's the best way to split multiple delimited strings without using a function (SQL Server 2016)?

Here's what I'm starting with:

GroupId     Val1      Val2
----------- --------- ------
G1           1,2,3     a,b,c
G2           4,5,6     d,e,f
G3           1,2,3,4   w,x,y,z

Here's what I would like to end up with:

GroupId Val1    Val2
------- ------- -------
G1      1       a
G1      2       b
G1      3       c
G2      4       d
G2      5       e
G2      6       f
G3      1       w
G3      2       x
G3      3       y      
G3      4       z      

Based on everything I've read, I think I may need to use the XML method because it allows me to specify an order, but I haven't been able to find an example of this method where multiple columns are split.

Here's the T-SQL to create the source table:

DROP TABLE IF EXISTS #TestData;

CREATE TABLE #TestData(GroupId VARCHAR(10),
                       Val1 VARCHAR(100),
                       Val2 VARCHAR(100)
                       );
INSERT INTO #TestData
VALUES ('G1', '1,2,3', 'a,b,c'),
       ('G2', '4,5,6', 'd,e,f'),
       ('G3', '1,2,3,4', 'w,x,y,z');

SELECT *
FROM #TestData;

Thank you in advance!

Answer 1

Transform the delimited string to a JSON array, and use OPENJSON, which exposes the lexical ordering for arrays. eg

This

select *
from openjson('["w","x","y","z"]')

outputs

key       value  
--------- -------
0         w      
1         x      
2         y      
3         z      

So

DROP TABLE IF EXISTS #TestData;

CREATE TABLE #TestData(GroupId VARCHAR(10),
                       Val1 VARCHAR(100),
                       Val2 VARCHAR(100)
                       );
INSERT INTO #TestData
VALUES ('G1', '1,2,3', 'a,b,c'),
       ('G2', '4,5,6', 'd,e,f'),
       ('G3', '1,2,3,4', 'w,x,y,z');

with q as
(
  SELECT GroupId, concat('["',replace(Val1,',','","'),'"]') Val1,concat('["',replace(Val2,',','","'),'"]') Val2
  FROM #TestData
)
select GroupId, v1.value Val1, v2.value Val2
from q
cross apply openjson(Val1) v1
cross apply openjson(Val2) v2
where v1.[key] = v2.[key]

outputs

GroupId    Val1     Val2
---------- -------- ---------------
G1         1        a
G1         2        b
G1         3        c
G2         4        d
G2         5        e
G2         6        f
G3         1        w
G3         2        x
G3         3        y
G3         4        z