Is it possible to convert a table of values into a comma-delimited-list?

Question

Hi,
I'd like to turn the following dataset:
Parent | Child
Charles | William
Charles | Harry
Anne | Peter
Anne | Zara
Andrew | Beatrice
Andrew | Eugenie
into this:
Parent | Children
Charles | Diana,Camilla
Anne | Peter,Zara
Andrew | Beatrice,Eugenie
In other words, I'd like to take a list of values pertaining to some key and produce them as a comma-delimited-list.
I know its is possible in T-SQL although the method is a bit of a nasty hack. Is it possible in PL-SQL?
Thaks in advance
Jamie

Answer 1

Hi,
With model clause (10g)
with t  as(
select 'Charles' parent, 'William' child from dual union
select 'Charles', 'Harry' from dual union
select 'Anne', 'Peter' from dual union
select 'Anne', 'Zara' from dual union
select 'Andrew', 'Beatrice' from dual union
select 'Andrew', 'Eugenie' from dual
select parent,substr(res,2) res
from t
model
return updated rows
partition by ( parent)
dimension by ( row_number()over(partition by parent order by child) rn)
measures(child, cast( null as varchar2(4000)) as res)
rules
iterate(100000)
until(presentv(res[iteration_number+2],1,0)=0)
( res[0]=res[0]||','||child[iteration_number+1]);
PARENT  RES                                              
Anne    Peter,Zara                                       
Andrew  Beatrice,Eugenie                                 
Charles Harry,William                                    
3 rows selected.