Best way to generate XML using TSQL - sql-server

Question

The code below is wrong on so many levels I can't list them all.
I imagine anyone trying to answer this would only make use of the test data table. Ha!
I've cobbled together several posts, bouncing between EXPLICIT, RAW and PATH and it's getting a little much.
I think someone who uses SQL to generate XML frequently would know this off the top of their head.
I don't have a preference for Ex, Raw or Path - I just need the best tool for the job. At the end of the day there will be 65 columns making up various levels of the final document.
I need code to query that table and generate this:
<batchContactList>
<contact contactID="123" action="AddOrModify">
<contactField name="FirstName">Johnny</contactField>
<contactField name="LastName">Testguy</contactField>
<contactPointList>
<contactPoint type="Email">
<contactPointField name="Label">Email</contactPointField>
<contactPointField name="Address">example#sendwordnow.com</contactPointField>
</contactPoint>
</contactPointList>
</contact>
</batchContactList>
Test Code
--Test Data
DECLARE #tvTest TABLE (contactID INT, FirstName VARCHAR(25), LastName VARCHAR(25), [type] VARCHAR(25), [address] VARCHAR(25))
INSERT INTO #tvTest (contactID, FirstName, LastName, [type], [address])
SELECT 123, 'Johnny', 'Testguy', 'email', 'example#sendwordnow.com'
UNION
SELECT 321, 'Sally', 'Testgirl', 'email', '1example#sendwordnow.com';
--Outer
SELECT
A.contactID AS "#contactID"
, 'AddOrModify' AS "#action"
FROM
#tvTest A
FOR XML PATH('contact'), ROOT('batchContactList')
--Level 1
DECLARE #xmldata XML;
SELECT #xmldata = (SELECT contactID, FirstName, LastName FROM #tvTest FOR XML PATH (''));
SELECT
ColumnName AS "#name"
, ColumnValue AS "text()"
FROM
(SELECT
i.value('local-name(.)','varchar(100)') ColumnName
, i.value('.','varchar(100)') ColumnValue
FROM
#xmldata.nodes('//*[text()]') x(i)) tmp
FOR XML PATH ('contactField'), ROOT('contact')
SELECT #xmldata = (SELECT contactID, [type], [address] FROM #tvTest FOR XML PATH (''));
--Level 2, not complete
SELECT
ColumnName AS "#name"
, ColumnValue AS "text()"
FROM
(SELECT
i.value('local-name(.)','varchar(100)') ColumnName
, i.value('.','varchar(100)') ColumnValue
FROM
#xmldata.nodes('//*[text()]') x(i)) tmp
FOR XML PATH ('contactPoint'), ROOT('contactPointList')

Answer 1

I use PATH, always.
Something like this should give you what you want.
select T.contactID as [#contactID],
'AddOrModify' as [#Action],
'FirstName' as [contactField/#name],
T.FirstName as [contactField],
null,
'LastName' as [contactField/#name],
T.LastName as [contactField],
(
select 'Email' as [contactPoint/#type],
'Label' as [contactPointField/#name],
T.type as [contactPointField],
null,
'Address' as [contactPointField/#name],
T.address as [contactPointField]
for xml path('contactPointList'), type
)
from #tvTest as T
for xml path('contact'), root('catchContactList')
Result:
<catchContactList>
<contact contactID="123" Action="AddOrModify">
<contactField name="FirstName">Johnny</contactField>
<contactField name="LastName">Testguy</contactField>
<contactPointList>
<contactPoint type="Email" />
<contactPointField name="Label">email</contactPointField>
<contactPointField name="Address">example#sendwordnow.com</contactPointField>
</contactPointList>
</contact>
<contact contactID="321" Action="AddOrModify">
<contactField name="FirstName">Sally</contactField>
<contactField name="LastName">Testgirl</contactField>
<contactPointList>
<contactPoint type="Email" />
<contactPointField name="Label">email</contactPointField>
<contactPointField name="Address">1example#sendwordnow.com</contactPointField>
</contactPointList>
</contact>
</catchContactList>