How to get below query - sql

Question

I have a table with one field name as City.
Below are the data.
City
--------
A
B
C
D
E
F
G
H
Output will be as Column as well
Write a query or stored procedure or function?
If a pass 2, the query result will be below
Col1 Col2
A B
C D
E F
G H
If a pass 3, the query result will be below
Col1 Col2 Col3
A B C
D E F
G H
If a pass 4, the query result will be below
Col1 Col2 Col3 Clo4
A B C D
E F G H
--Here script for creating and adding data into temp table
create table #Cities( City varchar(max) )
insert into #Cities values
( 'A' ),
( 'B' ),
( 'C' ),
( 'D' ),
( 'E' ),
( 'F' ),
( 'G' ),
( 'H' )
declare #what_I_pass as int = 2; -- Here pass the number you want.
with Q1 as
(
select *, ROW_NUMBER() over (order by City) - 1 as n
from #Cities
),
Q2 as
(
select City, n / #what_I_pass as rn, n % #what_I_pass as cn
from Q1
)
select (stuff((select ' ' + City from Q2 as q where q.rn = Q2.rn order by cn for xml path('')), 1, 1, '')) as Result
from Q2
group by rn
order by rn

Answer 1

This would do:
declare #Cols int = 3 -- We define here how many output columns we want: 1, 2, 3, ... up to 10
create table #Cities( City varchar(max) )
insert into #Cities values
( 'A' ),
( 'B' ),
( 'C' ),
( 'D' ),
( 'E' ),
( 'F' ),
( 'G' ),
( 'H' )
;
with Cities as (
select City,
row_number() over (order by City) - 1 as Num
from #Cities
)
select Col1.City as Col1, Col2.City as Col2, Col3.City as Col3, Col4.City as Col4, Col5.City as Col5, Col6.City as Col6, Col7.City as Col7, Col8.City as Col8, Col9.City as Col9, Col10.City as Col10
from Cities as Rows
left join Cities as Col1 on 0 < #Cols and Col1.Num = Rows.Num * #Cols + 0
left join Cities as Col2 on 1 < #Cols and Col2.Num = Rows.Num * #Cols + 1
left join Cities as Col3 on 2 < #Cols and Col3.Num = Rows.Num * #Cols + 2
left join Cities as Col4 on 3 < #Cols and Col4.Num = Rows.Num * #Cols + 3
left join Cities as Col5 on 4 < #Cols and Col5.Num = Rows.Num * #Cols + 4
left join Cities as Col6 on 5 < #Cols and Col6.Num = Rows.Num * #Cols + 5
left join Cities as Col7 on 6 < #Cols and Col7.Num = Rows.Num * #Cols + 6
left join Cities as Col8 on 7 < #Cols and Col8.Num = Rows.Num * #Cols + 7
left join Cities as Col9 on 8 < #Cols and Col9.Num = Rows.Num * #Cols + 8
left join Cities as Col10 on 9 < #Cols and Col10.Num = Rows.Num * #Cols + 9
where Rows.Num <= (select max(Num) from Cities) / #Cols
drop table #Cities
Result for an input of 3 :
Col1 Col2 Col3 Col4 Col5 Col6 Col7 Col8 Col9 Col10
A B C NULL NULL NULL NULL NULL NULL NULL
D E F NULL NULL NULL NULL NULL NULL NULL
G H NULL NULL NULL NULL NULL NULL NULL NULL
PS: To avoid using dynamic SQL this query always returns a fixed number of 10 columns, but just the desired columns are filled. Now your presentation layer only needs to hide the unwanted empty columns.

Answer 2

Try below query:
--Here script for creating and adding data into temp table
declare #tbl table ( City varchar(max) )
insert into #tbl values
( 'A' ),
( 'B' ),
( 'C' ),
( 'D' ),
( 'E' ),
( 'F' ),
( 'G' ),
( 'H' )
declare #howManyCols int = 3;
;with cte as (
select City, grp,
row_number() over (partition by grp order by City) rn
from (
select *,
(row_number() over (order by City) - 1) % #howManyCols + 1 grp
from #tbl
) a
)
-- this query can be generated by dynamic SQL, because you can see pattern in following lft join's
select c1.City, c2.City, c3.City
from cte c1
left join cte c2 on c1.grp = c2.grp - 1 and c1.rn = c2.rn
left join cte c3 on c2.grp = c3.grp - 1 and c2.rn = c3.rn
where c1.grp = 1
For number of columns equal to three you get:

Answer 3

Try this script,
declare #flg int=3--test with 1,2,3,4 ...
create table #temp(id int identity(1,1),col varchar(10))
insert into #temp values ('A'),('B'),('C'),('D'),('E'),('F'),('G'),('H')
create table #temp1(id int ,col varchar(10),flag int,rownum int)
declare #PvtCol varchar(500)=''
declare #Headcol varchar(500)
declare #Sql nvarchar(500)
WITH CTE
AS (SELECT id,
col,
CASE
WHEN(id % #flg) = 0
THEN #flg
ELSE(id % #flg)
END flag
FROM #temp),
CTE1
AS (SELECT *,
ROW_NUMBER() OVER(PARTITION BY flag
ORDER BY id) rownum
FROM cte)
INSERT INTO #temp1
(id,
col,
flag,
rownum
)
SELECT id,
col,
flag,
rownum
FROM cte1;
SELECT #PvtCol = COALESCE(#PvtCol + ', ' + QUOTENAME(rownum), QUOTENAME(rownum)),
#Headcol = COALESCE(#Headcol + ', ' + QUOTENAME(rownum) + ' as ' + 'col', QUOTENAME(rownum) + ' as ' + 'col') + CAST(rownum AS VARCHAR)
FROM #temp1
WHERE flag = 1;
SET #PvtCol = STUFF(#PvtCol, 1, 1, '');
SELECT #PvtCol,
#Headcol;
SET #Sql = 'select flag,' + #Headcol + ' from
(
select flag, col,rownum from #temp1
)src
pivot(max(col) for rownum in(' + #PvtCol + ')) as pvt';
PRINT #Sql;
EXECUTE sp_executesql
#Sql;
DROP TABLE #temp, #temp1;