TSQL varchar string manipulation

Question

I have a variable which contains the following string: AL,CA,TN,VA,NY

I have no control over what I get in that variable (comes from reporting services)

I

Answer 1

Don't bother with dynamic sql.

You need to convert the string to a table so A,B,C,D

becomes

Value A B C D

using a function like http://www.sqlusa.com/bestpractices/training/scripts/splitcommadelimited/

then you can use CROSS APPLY (which is like joining to a table, but a table created by a function) or you can just put it in a table variable and join to that