Dynamic Pivot Table by Month - sql

Question

I'm trying to create a dynamic pivot table in SQL that will report based on month and year. I did a bunch of research and was able to come up with the below query:
declare #dynamic nvarchar(max),
#column nvarchar(max);
set #column = N'';
select #column += N'' + datename(month,incurdate) +' '+ datename(year,incurdate) + ','
from (select distinct a.incurdate from artable a) as Transpose
select #column = substring(#column,0,len(#column))
set #dynamic = 'select * from
(
select month, incurdate, dolamount
from artable join dolentry on month = period
) b
pivot(sum(dolamount) for incurdate in (' + #column + ')) as PivotTable'
execute sp_executesql #dynamic
I am able to print the #column variable successfully, but the problems happen when I try to set it in the #dynamic variable. The error message is 'Msg 102, Level 15, State 1, Line 6
Incorrect syntax near '1990'.' 1990 is the first year of the first pivoted column. Any help or tips are appreciated. Thanks!

Answer 1

You need to use QUOTENAME in the following code:
select #column += N'' + QUOTENAME(datename(month,incurdate) +' '+ datename(year,incurdate)) + ','
from (select distinct a.incurdate from artable a) as Transpose
in order to get output like this:
[col01], [col02], [col03], ... , [col04]
As you can see from the docs, the PIVOT syntax requires the pivoting columns to be wrapped in square brackets:
SELECT <non-pivoted column>,
[first pivoted column] AS <column name>,
[second pivoted column] AS <column name>,
...
[last pivoted column] AS <column name>
FROM
(<SELECT query that produces the data>)
AS <alias for the source query>
PIVOT
(
<aggregation function>(<column being aggregated>)
FOR
[<column that contains the values that will become column headers>]
IN ( [first pivoted column], [second pivoted column],
... [last pivoted column])
) AS <alias for the pivot table>
<optional ORDER BY clause>;