How to export report and mark a column with data? - sql

Question

This is hard to explain but I'll try. I need to export a report that shows which stores have locations in which states.
Suppose I have the following table:
+----------+-----------+
| STORE_ID | STATE_ABV |
+----------+-----------+
| 1 | AK |
| 1 | AL |
| 1 | AR |
| 2 | MI |
| 2 | OH |
| 2 | IN |
| 3 | CA |
| 3 | NV |
+----------+-----------+
The STORE_ID column is a key to another table where I just need to pull out the STORE_NAME column.
+----------+------------+
| STORE_ID | STORE_NAME |
+----------+------------+
| 1 | Walmart |
| 2 | Target |
| 3 | Kroeger's |
+----------+------------+
What I want is to export a list of each store along with columns for all states. If the store is available in that state, I want to place an "X" for the value.
So the desired output looks like this:
+------------+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+
| STORE_NAME | AK | AL | AR | CA | IN | OH | MI | NV |
+------------+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+
| Walmart | X | X | X | | | | | |
| Target | | | | | X | X | X | |
| Kroeger's | | | | X | | | | X |
+------------+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+
Is this possible in SQL Server? How would I write such a query? There should be a column for every STATE_ABV that exists in the table.

Answer 1

As mentioned, what you are after here is to pivot your data. Personally I dislike the PIVOT functionality of SQL Server, and much more prefer using a Cross-Tab (aka conditional aggregation).
As I suspect that this is going to require a dynamic pivot, I've done that as well:
--Sample tables
CREATE TABLE dbo.StoreLocations (StoreID int,
StateAbv char(2));
CREATE TABLE dbo.Stores (StoreID int IDENTITY,
StoreName varchar(20));
GO
--Sample data
INSERT INTO dbo.Stores (StoreName)
VALUES('Walmart'),('Target'),('Kroeger''s');
INSERT INTO dbo.StoreLocations (StoreID,StateAbv)
VALUES(1,'AK'),
(1,'AL'),
(1,'AR'),
(2,'MI'),
(2,'OH'),
(2,'IN'),
(3,'CA'),
(3,'NV');
GO
--Quick sample to get the format right
SELECT S.StoreName,
IIF(COUNT(CASE WHEN SL.StateAbv = 'AK' THEN 1 END) = 0,NULL, 'X') AS AK
FROM dbo.Stores S
LEFT JOIN dbo.StoreLocations SL ON S.StoreID = SL.StoreID
GROUP BY S.StoreName;
GO
--The real solution
DECLARE #SQL nvarchar(MAX);
SET #SQL = N'SELECT S.StoreName,' + NCHAR(13) + NCHAR(10) +
STUFF((SELECT N',' + NCHAR(13) + NCHAR(10) +
N' IIF(COUNT(CASE WHEN SL.StateAbv = ' + QUOTENAME(SL.StateAbv,'''') + N' THEN 1 END) = 0, NULL,''X'') AS ' + QUOTENAME(SL.StateAbv)
FROM dbo.StoreLocations SL
GROUP BY SL.StateAbv --Could use DISTINCT too
ORDER BY SL.StateAbv
FOR XML PATH(N''),TYPE).value('.','nvarchar(MAX)'),1,3,N'') + NCHAR(13) + NCHAR(10) +
N'FROM dbo.Stores S' + NCHAR(13) + NCHAR(10) +
N' LEFT JOIN dbo.StoreLocations SL ON S.StoreID = SL.StoreID' + NCHAR(13) + NCHAR(10) +
N'GROUP BY S.StoreName;';
PRINT #SQL; --Your best friend
EXEC sp_executesql #SQL;
GO
--Clean up
DROP TABLE dbo.Stores;
DROP TABLE dbo.StoreLocations;
db<>fiddle
I foolishly assumed that the state was unique in StoreLocations. Ideally, you should have a States table as well, then you don't need to get the distinct states from the StoreLocations table.
Example with a States table: db<>fiddle

Answer 2

Just in case you want the dynamic pivot. Personally, I don't mind PIVOT. It is just another screwdriver in the toolbox.
The UNION ALL portion can be removed if you don't mind NULL values
Example dbFiddle
Declare #SQL varchar(max) = '
Select *
From (
Select A.Store_ID
,A.State_Abv
,B.Store_Name
,Value = ''X''
From StoreLocations A
Join Stores B on A.Store_ID=B.Store_ID
Union All
Select B.Store_ID
,A.State_Abv
,B.Store_Name
,Value = ''''
From (Select Distinct State_Abv from StoreLocations) A
Cross Join Stores B
) A
Pivot (max(Value) For [State_Abv] in (' + Stuff((Select Distinct ',' + QuoteName(State_Abv) From StoreLocations Order By 1 For XML Path('')),1,1,'') + ') ) p
Order By Store_ID
'
Exec(#SQL)
Returns
Option with NULL Values
Declare #SQL varchar(max) = '
Select *
From (
Select A.Store_ID
,A.State_Abv
,B.Store_Name
,Value = ''X''
From StoreLocations A
Join Stores B on A.Store_ID=B.Store_ID
) A
Pivot (max(Value) For [State_Abv] in (' + Stuff((Select Distinct ',' + QuoteName(State_Abv) From StoreLocations Order By 1 For XML Path('')),1,1,'') + ') ) p
Order By Store_ID
'
Returns