Loop through a table based on multiple conditions - sql

Question

Students table
student_id student_name
1 John
2 Mary
Grades table
student_id year grade_level school Course Mark
1 2015 10 Smith High Algebra 95
1 2015 10 Smith High English 96
1 2016 11 Smith High Geometry 85
1 2016 11 Smith High Science 88
2 2015 10 Smith High Algebra 98
2 2015 10 Smith High English 93
2 2016 11 Smith High Geometry 97
2 2016 11 Smith High Science 86
I'm trying to show results for each year and what class a student took with the grade.
So the final output i'm looking for is something like:
[student_id1] [year1] [grade1] [school1]
[course1] [mark1]
[course2] [mark2]
[course3] [mark3]...
[student_id1] [year2] [grade2] [school1]
[course1] [mark1]
[course2] [mark2]
[course3] [mark3]...
[student_id2] [year1] [grade1] [school1]
[course1] [mark1]
[course2] [mark2]
[course3] [mark3]...
This would all go in one column/row. So in this particular example, this would be my result:
1 2015 10 Smith High
Algebra 95
English 96
1 2016 11 Smith High
Geometry 85
Science 88
2 2015 10 Smith High
Algebra 98
English 93
2 2016 11 Smith High
Geometry 97
Science 86
So anytime a student id, year, grade, or school name changes, I would have a line for that and loop through the classes taken within that group. And all of this would be in one column/row.
This is what I have so far but I'm not sure how I can properly loop through course and grades for each group. I'd appreciate it if I can be pointed in the right direction.
select s.student_id + '' + year + '' + grade_level + '' + school
from students
join grades on students.student_id = grades.student_id

Answer 1

If you want to do it in your SQL Enviromnment, it depends on the Database Management System you are using.
For example, if you are using Transact SQL you can try to look at this link.
Generally this kind of loops and interactions are done in the programming language that is coupled with the SQL DB.
Anyway, you should look at Stored Procedures and Cursors if you really want to do this in SQL.

Answer 2

You are trying to mix presentation with retrieval of data from database tables. Looping through the resultset in sql can be achieved via cursor but that isn't adviced. You are better off by pulling the required data using two queries and later print it using a language of your choice.