Creating SQL tables dynamically in a loop - sql

Question

I need to dynamically create X tables. The X is calculated on the fly based on a series of other calculations that get passed in. I've written the following dynamic code in an effort to create a loop and generate a create statement each time.
I can't use global tables for this project.
DECLARE #cnt_v varchar(10)
DECLARE #SQL NVARCHAR(max) = ''
DECLARE #season_counter int = 5
SET #cnt = 1
SET #cnt_v = CONVERT(varchar(10), #cnt)
WHILE #cnt <= #season_counter
BEGIN
select #SQL = #SQL + 'create table #Season_year' + #cnt_v + ' (customer_no int, order_no int, order_dt datetime, season_no int)'
exec sp_executesql #SQL
set #sql = ''
select #SQL = #SQL + 'select * from #Season_year' + #cnt_v
exec sp_executesql #SQL
select #cnt = #cnt + 1
select #cnt_v = CONVERT(varchar(10), #cnt)
select #sql = ''
END
The output of the above code is the following errors
When manually create the tables, by typing
create table #Season_year1 (customer_no int, order_no int, order_dt datetime, season_no int)'
then use my dynamic loop to insert data, update records and ultimately drop the temp tables everything works without an issue. The problem is solely creating the tables dynamically.
If this approach isn't going to work, how else could I do this?
Thank you

Answer 1

Each one of your dynamic sql statements is run within its own scope, so in the SELECT * FROM #Season_year5 has no idea what #Season_year5 is. In the first dynamic SQL statement it's created and destroyed all with the execution of sp_executesql. If you combine them both into a single dynamic SQL statement then you will be able to access the temp table in other statements.
DECLARE #cnt INT = 1;
DECLARE #cnt_v varchar(10)
DECLARE #SQL NVARCHAR(max) = ''
DECLARE #season_counter int = 5
SET #cnt = 1
SET #cnt_v = CONVERT(varchar(10), #cnt)
WHILE #cnt <= #season_counter
BEGIN
select #SQL = #SQL + N'create table #Season_year' + #cnt_v + N' (customer_no int, order_no int, order_dt datetime, season_no int);
select * from #Season_year' + #cnt_v + N';'
exec sp_executesql #SQL
select #cnt = #cnt + 1
select #cnt_v = CONVERT(varchar(10), #cnt)
select #sql = ''
END