--Create/Populate [#Filters]:
if object_id('tempdb..[#Filters]','U') is not null drop table [#Filters]
go
create table [#Filters]
(
[filterid] int
,[filtertype] varchar(50)
,[filtername] varchar(50)
,[filtercriteria] nvcarchar(max)
)
go
set nocount on
insert [#Filters] select 1, 'Worklist', 'WL1', 'ID_SlotAssignmentFolder=1'
insert [#Filters] select 2, 'Worklist', 'WL2', 'ID_SlotAssignmentFolder=2'
insert [#Filters] select 3, 'Worklist', 'WL3', 'ID_SlotAssignmentFolder=3'
insert [#Filters] select 4, 'Filter', 'Filter1', 'filter_after_hours_offset=0,time_of_day_begin=00:00,worklistKey=1'
insert [#Filters] select 5, 'Filter', 'Filter2', 'filter_after_hours_offset=0,time_of_day_begin=00:00,worklistKey=1,worklistKey=2'
insert [#Filters] select 6, 'Filter', 'Filter3', 'filter_after_hours_offset=0,time_of_day_begin=00:00,worklistKey=2'
go
--select * from [#Filters]
I did not build this table, I am just trying to query from it.
I have a table called Filters. It contains two types, Filters and Worklists. Filters reference Worklists in the 'filtercriteria' column.
In the above example, Filter1 references WL1, Filter2 references WL1 and WL2, and Filter3 references WL2.
I need a query that will search the filters to ensure all of the Worklists are being referenced. For example, I want to be able to search the above table and for it to return WL3 because WL3 is not referenced in any of the filters.
There is other information in the filtercriteria column, so I'm not sure how to strip out everything except for the worklistKey info, and with that returned, just search for Worklists that aren't referenced in any Filter.
In SQL Server you can use XML functionality to parse a delimited field into multiple rows:
SELECT DISTINCT REPLACE(LTRIM(RTRIM(m.n.value('.[1]','varchar(8000)'))),',','') AS filters
FROM
(SELECT filterid,CAST('<XMLRoot><RowData>' + REPLACE(filtercriteria,'worklistKey=','</RowData><RowData>') + '</RowData></XMLRoot>' AS XML) AS x
FROM #Filters
WHERE filtertype = 'Filter'
)t
CROSS APPLY x.nodes('/XMLRoot/RowData')m(n)
WHERE ISNUMERIC(REPLACE(LTRIM(RTRIM(m.n.value('.[1]','varchar(8000)'))),',','')) = 1
In this case we use 'worklistKey=' as the delimiter to parse on, and use an ISNUMERIC() check to filter out the non-numbers (rows that don't have a worklistKey).
This gets you the distinct list of Worklists referenced by Filters, you'll have to left-join from a list of all filters to finish this out. Might get messy if the reality is much different from your sample.
Related
I am working on a sql database which will provide with data some grid. The grid will enable filtering, sorting and paging but also there is a strict requirement that users can enter free text to a text input above the grid for example
'Engine 1001 Requi' and that the result will contain only rows which in some columns contain all the pieces of the text. So one column may contain Engine, other column may contain 1001 and some other will contain Requi.
I created a technical column (let's call it myTechnicalColumn) in the table (let's call it myTable) which will be updated each time someone inserts or updates a row and it will contain all the values of all the columns combined and separated with space.
Now to use it with entity framework I decided to use a table valued function which accepts one parameter #searchQuery and it will handle it like this:
CREATE FUNCTION myFunctionName(#searchText NVARCHAR(MAX))
RETURNS #Result TABLE
( ... here come columns )
AS
BEGIN
DECLARE #searchToken TokenType
INSERT INTO #searchToken(token) SELECT value FROM STRING_SPLIT(#searchText,' ')
DECLARE #searchTextLength INT
SET #searchTextLength = (SELECT COUNT(*) FROM #searchToken)
INSERT INTO #Result
SELECT
... here come columns
FROM myTable
WHERE (SELECT COUNT(*) FROM #searchToken WHERE CHARINDEX(token, myTechnicalColumn) > 0) = #searchTextLength
RETURN;
END
Of course the solution works fine but it's kinda slow. Any hints how to improve its efficiency?
You can use an inline Table Valued Function, which should be quite a lot faster.
This would be a direct translation of your current code
CREATE FUNCTION myFunctionName(#searchText NVARCHAR(MAX))
RETURNS TABLE
AS RETURN
(
WITH searchText AS (
SELECT value token
FROM STRING_SPLIT(#searchText,' ') s(token)
)
SELECT
... here come columns
FROM myTable t
WHERE (
SELECT COUNT(*)
FROM searchText
WHERE CHARINDEX(s.token, t.myTechnicalColumn) > 0
) = (SELECT COUNT(*) FROM searchText)
);
GO
You are using a form of query called Relational Division Without Remainder and there are other ways to cut this cake:
CREATE FUNCTION myFunctionName(#searchText NVARCHAR(MAX))
RETURNS TABLE
AS RETURN
(
WITH searchText AS (
SELECT value token
FROM STRING_SPLIT(#searchText,' ') s(token)
)
SELECT
... here come columns
FROM myTable t
WHERE NOT EXISTS (
SELECT 1
FROM searchText
WHERE CHARINDEX(s.token, t.myTechnicalColumn) = 0
)
);
GO
This may be faster or slower depending on a number of factors, you need to test.
Since there is no data to test, i am not sure if the following will solve your issue:
-- Replace the last INSERT portion
INSERT INTO #Result
SELECT
... here come columns
FROM myTable T
JOIN #searchToken S ON CHARINDEX(S.token, T.myTechnicalColumn) > 0
I have a list of values such as
1,2,3,4...
that will be passed into my SQL query.
I need to have these values stored in a table variable. So essentially I need something like this:
declare #t (num int)
insert into #t values (1),(2),(3),(4)...
Is it possible to do that formatting in SQL Server? (turning 1,2,3,4... into (1),(2),(3),(4)...
Note: I can not change what those values look like before they get to my SQL script; I'm stuck with that list. also it may not always be 4 values; it could 1 or more.
Edit to show what values look like: under normal circumstances, this is how it would work:
select t.pk
from a_table t
where t.pk in (#place_holder#)
#placeholder# is just a literal place holder. when some one would run the report, #placeholder# is replaced with the literal values from the filter of that report:
select t.pk
from a_table t
where t.pk in (1,2,3,4) -- or whatever the user selects
t.pk is an int
note: doing
declare #t as table (
num int
)
insert into #t values (#Placeholder#)
does not work.
Your description is a bit ridicuolus, but you might give this a try:
Whatever you mean with this
I see what your trying to say; but if I type out '#placeholder#' in the script, I'll end up with '1','2','3','4' and not '1,2,3,4'
I assume this is a string with numbers, each number between single qoutes, separated with a comma:
DECLARE #passedIn VARCHAR(100)='''1'',''2'',''3'',''4'',''5'',''6'',''7''';
SELECT #passedIn; -->: '1','2','3','4','5','6','7'
Now the variable #passedIn holds exactly what you are talking about
I'll use a dynamic SQL-Statement to insert this in a temp-table (declared table variable would not work here...)
CREATE TABLE #tmpTable(ID INT);
DECLARE #cmd VARCHAR(MAX)=
'INSERT INTO #tmpTable(ID) VALUES (' + REPLACE(SUBSTRING(#passedIn,2,LEN(#passedIn)-2),''',''','),(') + ');';
EXEC (#cmd);
SELECT * FROM #tmpTable;
GO
DROP TABLE #tmpTable;
UPDATE 1: no dynamic SQL necessary, all ad-hoc...
You can get the list of numbers as derived table in a CTE easily.
This can be used in a following statement like WHERE SomeID IN(SELECT ID FROM MyIDs) (similar to this: dynamic IN section )
WITH MyIDs(ID) AS
(
SELECT A.B.value('.','int') AS ID
FROM
(
SELECT CAST('<x>' + REPLACE(SUBSTRING(#passedIn,2,LEN(#passedIn)-2),''',''','</x><x>') + '</x>' AS XML) AS AsXml
) as tbl
CROSS APPLY tbl.AsXml.nodes('/x') AS A(B)
)
SELECT * FROM MyIDs
UPDATE 2:
And to answer your question exactly:
With this following the CTE
insert into #t(num)
SELECT ID FROM MyIDs
... you would actually get your declared table variable filled - if you need it later...
I am trying to create a piece of code in sql server 2008 that will grab specific values from each distinct string within my dbo table. The ultimate goal is to make a drop down box within Visual Studio so that one can choose all lines from the database that contain a specific product code (see definition of product code below). Example strings:
in_0314_95pf_500_w_0315
in_0314_500_95pf_0315_w
The part of these strings I am wishing to identify is the 3 digit numeric code (in this case let us call it product code) that appears once within each string. There are roughly 300 different product codes.
The problem is that these product code values do not appear in the same position within each unique string. Hence, I am having a hard time determining the product code because I can't use substring, charindex, like, etc.
Any ideas? Any help is MUCH appreciated.
This can be done with PATINDEX:
DECLARE #s NVARCHAR(100) = 'in_0314_95pf_500_w_0315'
SELECT SUBSTRING(#s, PATINDEX('%[_][0-9][0-9][0-9][_]%', #s) + 1, 3)
Output:
500
If there are no underscores then:
SELECT SUBSTRING(#s, PATINDEX('%[^0-9][0-9][0-9][0-9][^0-9]%', #s) + 1, 3)
This means 3 digits between any symbols that are not digits.
EDIT:
Apply to table like:
SELECT SUBSTRING(ColumnName, PATINDEX('%[^0-9][0-9][0-9][0-9][^0-9]%', ColumnName) + 1, 3)
FROM TableName
One approach is to use a String splitting table function like this one which breaks the string up into its components. You can then filter the components based on your criteria:
SELECT Name
FROM dbo.splitstring('in_0314_95pf_500_w_0315', '_')
WHERE ISNUMERIC(Name) = 1 AND LEN(Name) = 3;
I've amended the function slightly to accept the delimiter as a parameter.
CREATE FUNCTION dbo.splitstring ( #stringToSplit VARCHAR(MAX), #delimiter VARCHAR(50))
RETURNS
#returnList TABLE ([Name] [nvarchar] (500))
AS
BEGIN
DECLARE #name NVARCHAR(255)
DECLARE #pos INT
WHILE CHARINDEX(#delimiter, #stringToSplit) > 0
BEGIN
SELECT #pos = CHARINDEX(#delimiter, #stringToSplit)
SELECT #name = SUBSTRING(#stringToSplit, len(#delimiter), #pos-len(#delimiter))
INSERT INTO #returnList
SELECT #name
SELECT #stringToSplit = SUBSTRING(#stringToSplit, #pos+LEN(#delimiter),
LEN(#stringToSplit)-#pos)
END
INSERT INTO #returnList
SELECT #stringToSplit
RETURN
END
To apply this to your table, use CROSS APPLY (Single Delimiter):
SELECT mt.Name, x.Name AS ProductCode
FROM MyTable mt
CROSS APPLY dbo.splitstring(mt.Name, '_') x
WHERE ISNUMERIC(x.Name) = 1 AND LEN(x.Name) = 3
Update, Multiple Delimiters
I guess the real underlying problem is that ultimately the product codes need to be normalized out of the composite key (e.g. add a distinct ProductId or ProductCode column to the same table), derived using a query like this, and then stored back in the table via an update. Reverse engineering the product codes out of the string appears to be a trial and error process.
Nonetheless, you can continue to keep passing the split strings through further splitting functions (one per each type of delimiter), before applying your final discriminating filter:
SELECT *
FROM MyTable mt
CROSS APPLY dbo.splitstring(mt.Name, 'test') y -- First alias
CROSS APPLY dbo.splitstring(y.Name, '_') x -- Reference the preceding alias
WHERE ISNUMERIC(x.Name) = 1 AND LEN(x.Name) = 3; -- Must reference the last alias (x)
Note that the stringsplit function has again been changed to accommodate multicharacter delimiters.
If you have a table (or can generate in inline view) of the product codes, you can join the list of long strings to the product codes with a like clause.
Create Table longcodes (
longcode varchar(20)
)
Create Table products (
prodCode char(3)
)
insert products values('100')
insert products values('111')
insert products values('123')
insert longcodes values ('abc_a_100_test')
insert longcodes values ('asdf_111_bob')
insert longcodes values ('in_0314_123_95pf')
insert longcodes values ('f_100_u')
insert longcodes values ('hihi_111_bye')
insert longcodes values ('in_123_0314_95pf')
insert longcodes values ('a_b__c_d_100_efg')
select *
from products p
join longcodes l on l.longcode like '%_' + p.prodCode + '_%'
And they get aligned with the product codes like this:
prodCode longcode
100 abc_a_100_test
100 f_100_u
100 a_b__c_d_100_efg
111 asdf_111_bob
111 hihi_111_bye
123 in_0314_123_95pf
123 in_123_0314_95pf
EDIT: Seeing the developments in the other answer, you can simplify the like clause to
like p.prodCode
and just deal with the fact that you have a much greater chance of a single composite string producing multiple matches.
I am working on MSSQL, trying to split one string column into multiple columns. The string column has numbers separated by semicolons, like:
190230943204;190234443204;
However, some rows have more numbers than others, so in the database you can have
190230943204;190234443204;
121340944534;340212343204;134530943204
I've seen some solutions for splitting one column into a specific number of columns, but not variable columns. The columns that have less data (2 series of strings separated by commas instead of 3) will have nulls in the third place.
Ideas? Let me know if I must clarify anything.
Splitting this data into separate columns is a very good start (coma-separated values are an heresy). However, a "variable number of properties" should typically be modeled as a one-to-many relationship.
CREATE TABLE main_entity (
id INT PRIMARY KEY,
other_fields INT
);
CREATE TABLE entity_properties (
main_entity_id INT PRIMARY KEY,
property_value INT,
FOREIGN KEY (main_entity_id) REFERENCES main_entity(id)
);
entity_properties.main_entity_id is a foreign key to main_entity.id.
Congratulations, you are on the right path, this is called normalisation. You are about to reach the First Normal Form.
Beweare, however, these properties should have a sensibly similar nature (ie. all phone numbers, or addresses, etc.). Do not to fall into the dark side (a.k.a. the Entity-Attribute-Value anti-pattern), and be tempted to throw all properties into the same table. If you can identify several types of attributes, store each type in a separate table.
If these are all fixed length strings (as in the question), then you can do the work fairly simply (at least relative to other solutions):
select substring(col, 1+13*(n-1), 12) as val
from t join
(select 1 as n union all select union all select 3
) n
on len(t.col) <= 13*n.n
This is a useful hack if all the entries are the same size (not so easy if they are of different sizes). Do, however, think about the data structure because semi-colon (or comma) separated list is not a very good data structure.
IF I were you, I would create a simple function that is dividing values separated with ';' like this:
IF EXISTS (SELECT * FROM sysobjects WHERE id = object_id(N'fn_Split_List') AND xtype IN (N'FN', N'IF', N'TF'))
BEGIN
DROP FUNCTION [dbo].[fn_Split_List]
END
GO
SET ANSI_NULLS ON
GO
SET QUOTED_IDENTIFIER ON
GO
CREATE FUNCTION [dbo].[fn_Split_List](#List NVARCHAR(512))
RETURNS #ResultRowset TABLE ( [Value] NVARCHAR(128) PRIMARY KEY)
AS
BEGIN
DECLARE #XML xml = N'<r><![CDATA[' + REPLACE(#List, ';', ']]></r><r><![CDATA[') + ']]></r>'
INSERT INTO #ResultRowset ([Value])
SELECT DISTINCT RTRIM(LTRIM(Tbl.Col.value('.', 'NVARCHAR(128)')))
FROM #xml.nodes('//r') Tbl(Col)
RETURN
END
GO
Than simply called in this way:
SET NOCOUNT ON
GO
DECLARE #RawData TABLE( [Value] NVARCHAR(256))
INSERT INTO #RawData ([Value] )
VALUES ('1111111;22222222')
,('3333333;113113131')
,('776767676')
,('89332131;313131312;54545353')
SELECT SL.[Value]
FROM #RawData AS RD
CROSS APPLY [fn_Split_List] ([Value]) as SL
SET NOCOUNT OFF
GO
The result is as the follow:
Value
1111111
22222222
113113131
3333333
776767676
313131312
54545353
89332131
Anyway, the logic in the function is not complicated, so you can easily put it anywhere you need.
Note: There is not limitations of how many values you will have separated with ';', but there are length limitation in the function that you can set to NVARCHAR(MAX) if you need.
EDIT:
As I can see, there are some rows in your example that will caused the function to return empty strings. For example:
number;number;
will return:
number
number
'' (empty string)
To clear them, just add the following where clause to the statement above like this:
SELECT SL.[Value]
FROM #RawData AS RD
CROSS APPLY [fn_Split_List] ([Value]) as SL
WHERE LEN(SL.[Value]) > 0
sql2005
This is my simplified example:
(in reality there are 40+ tables in here, I only showed 2)
I got a table called tb_modules, with 3 columns (id, description, tablename as varchar):
1, UserType, tb_usertype
2, Religion, tb_religion
(Last column is actually the name of a different table)
I got an other table that looks like this:
tb_value (columns:id, tb_modules_ID, usertype_OR_religion_ID)
values:
1111, 1, 45
1112, 1, 55
1113, 2, 123
1114, 2, 234
so, I mean 45, 55, 123, 234 are usertype OR religion ID's
(45, 55 usertype, 123, 234 religion ID`s)
Don't judge, I didn't design the database
Question
How can I make a select, showing * from tb_value, plus one column
That one column would be TITLE from the tb_usertype or RELIGIONNAME from the tb_religion table
I would like to make a general thing.
Was thinking initially about maybe a SQL function that returns a string, but I think I would need dynamic SQL, which is not ok in a function.
Anyone a better idea ?
At the beginning we have this -- which is quite messy.
To clean-up a bit I add two views and a synonym:
create view v_Value as
select
ID as ValueID
, tb_modules_ID as ModuleID
, usertype_OR_religion_ID as RemoteID
from tb_value ;
go
create view v_Religion as
select
ID
, ReligionName as Title
from tb_religion ;
go
create synonym v_UserType for tb_UserType ;
go
And now the model looks like
It is easier now to write the query
;
with
q_mod as (
select
m.ID as ModuleID
, coalesce(x1.ID , x2.ID) as RemoteID
, coalesce(x1.Title , x2.Title) as Title
, m.Description as ModuleType
from tb_Modules as m
left join v_UserType as x1 on m.TableName = 'tb_UserType'
left join v_Religion as x2 on m.TableName = 'tb_Religion'
)
select
a.ModuleID
, v.ValueID
, a.RemoteID
, a.ModuleType
, a.Title
from q_mod as a
join v_Value as v on (v.ModuleID = a.ModuleID and v.RemoteID = a.RemoteID) ;
There is an obvious pattern in this query, so it can be created as dynamic sql if you have to add another module-type table. When adding another table, use ID and Title to avoid having to use a view.
EDIT
To build dynamic sql (or query on application level)
Modify lines 6 and 7, the x-index is tb_modules.id
coalesce(x1. , x2. , x3. ..)
Add lines to the left join (below line 11)
left join v_SomeName as x3 on m.TableName = 'tb_SomeName'
The SomeName is tb_modules.description and x-index is matching tb_modules.id
EDIT 2
The simplest would probably be to package the above query into a view and then each time the schema changes dynamically crate and run ALTER VIEW. This way the query would not change from the point of the application.
Since we're all agreed the design is flaky, I'll skip any comments on that. The pattern of the query is this:
-- Query 1
select tb_value.*,tb_religion.religion_name as ANY_DESCRIPTION
from tb_value
JOIN tb_religion on tb_value.ANY_KIND_OF_ID = tb_religion.id
WHERE tb_value.module_id = 2
-- combine it with...
UNION ALL
-- ...Query 2
select tb_value.*,tb_religion.title as ANY_DESCRIPTION
from tb_value
JOIN tb_userType on tb_value.ANY_KIND_OF_ID = tb_userType.id
WHERE tb_value.module_id = 1
-- combine it with...
UNION ALL
-- ...Query 3
select lather, rinse, repeat for 40 tables!
You can actually define a view that hardcodes all 40 cases, and then put filters onto queries for the particular modules you want.
To do this dynamically you need to be able to create a sql statement that looks like this
select tb_value.*, tb_usertype.title as Descr
from tb_value
inner join tb_usertype
on tb_value.extid = tb_usertype.id
where tb_value.tb_module_id = 1
union all
select tb_value.*, tb_religion.religionname as Descr
from tb_value
inner join tb_religion
on tb_value.extid = tb_religion.id
where tb_value.tb_module_id = 2
-- union 40 other tables
Currently you can not do that because you do not have any information in the db telling you which column to use from tb_religion and tb_usertype etc. You can add that as a new field in tb_module.
If you have fieldname to use in tb_module you can build a view that does what you want.
And you could add a trigger to table tb_modules that alters the view whenever tb_modules is modified. That way you do not need to use dynamic sql from the client when doing queries. The only thing you need to worry about is that the table needs to be created in the db before you add a new row to tb_modules
Edit 1
Of course the code in the trigger needs to dynamically build the alter view statement.
Edit 2 You also need to have a field with information about what column in tb_usertype and tb_religion etc. to join against tb_value.extid (usertype_OR_religion_ID). Or you can assume that the field will always be called id
Edit 3 Here is how you could build the trigger on tb_module that alters the view v_values. I have added fieldname as a column in tb_modules and I assume that the id field in the related tables is called id.
create trigger tb_modules_change on tb_modules after insert, delete, update
as
declare #sql nvarchar(max)
declare #moduleid int
declare #tablename varchar(50)
declare #fieldname varchar(50)
set #sql = 'alter view v_value as '
declare mcur cursor for
select id, tablename, fieldname
from tb_modules
open mcur
fetch next from mcur into #moduleid, #tablename, #fieldname
while ##FETCH_STATUS = 0
begin
set #sql = #sql + 'select tb_value.*, '+#tablename+'.'+#fieldname+' '+
'from tb_value '+
'inner join '+#tablename+' '+
'on tb_value.extid = '+#tablename+'.id '+
'where tb_value.tb_module_id = '+cast(#moduleid as varchar(10))
fetch next from mcur into #moduleid, #tablename, #fieldname
if ##FETCH_STATUS = 0
begin
set #sql = #sql + ' union all '
end
end
close mcur
deallocate mcur
exec sp_executesql #sql
Hm..there are probably better solutions available but here's my five cents:
SELECT
id,tb_modules_ID,usertype_OR_religion_ID,
COALESCE(
(SELECT TITLE FROM tb_usertype WHERE Id = usertype_OR_religion_ID),
(SELECT RELIGIONNAME FROM tb_religion WHERE Id = usertype_OR_religion_ID),
'N/A'
) AS SourceTable
FROM tb_valuehere
Note that I don't have the possibility to check the statement right now so I'm reserving myself for any syntax errors...
First, using your current design the only reasonable solution is dynamic SQL. You should write a module in your middle-tier that queries for the appropriate table names and builds the queries on the fly. Trying to accomplish that in T-SQL will be a nightmare. T-SQL was not designed for string construction.
The right solution is to build a new database designed properly, migrate the data and scrap the existing design. The problems you will encounter with your current design will simply grow. It will be harder for new developers to learn the new system. It will be prone to errors. There will be no data integrity (e.g. forcing the attribute "Start Date" to be parsable as a date). Custom queries will be a chore to write and so on. Eventually, you will hit the day when the types of information desired from the system are simply too difficult to extract given the current design.
First take the undesigner out the back and put them out of their misery. They are hurting people.
Due to their incompetence, every time you add a row to Module, you have to modify every query that uses it. Good for www.dailywtf.com.
You do not have Referential Integrity either, because you cannot define an FK on the this_or_that column. Your data is exposed, probably to "code" written by the same undesigner. No doubt you are aware that this is where the deadlocks are created.
That it is a "judgement", that is so that you understand the gravity of the undesign, and you can justify replacing it, to your managers.
SQL was designed for Relational Databases, that means Normalised. It is not good for mangled files. Sure, some queries may be better than others (just look at the answers), but there is no way to get around the undesign, any SQL query will be hamstrung, and need change whenever a Module row is added.
"Dynamic" is reserved for Databases, not possible for flat flies.
Two answers. One to stop the continuing idiocy of changing the existing queries every time a Module row is added (you're welcome); the second to answer your question.
Safe Future Queries
CREATE VIEW UserReligion_vw AS
SELECT [XxxxId] = id, -- replace Xxxx
[ReligionId] = usertype_OR_religion_ID
FROM tb_value
WHERE tb_modules_ID = 1
CREATE VIEW UserReligion_vw AS
SELECT [XxxxId] = id,
[ReligionId] = usertype_OR_religion_ID
FROM tb_value
WHERE tb_modules_ID = 2
From now on, make sure the all queries currently using the undesign, are modified to use the correct View instead. Do not use the Views for Update/Delete/Insert.
Answer
Ok, now for the main question. I can think of other approaches, but this one is the best. You have stated, you want the third column to also be an unnormalised piece of chicken excreta and the supply Title for [EITHER_Religion_OR_UserType_OR_This_OR_That]. Right, so you are teaching the user to be confused as well; when the no of modules grow, they will have great fun figuring out what the column contains. Yes a problem does always compound itself.
SELECT [XxxxId] = id,
[Whatever] = CASE tb_modules_ID
WHEN 1 THEN ( SELECT name -- title, whatever
FROM tb_religion
WHERE id = V.usertype_OR_religion_ID
)
WHEN 2 THEN ( SELECT name -- title, whatever
FROM tb_usertype
WHERE id = V.usertype_OR_religion_ID
)
ELSE "(UnknownModule)" -- do not remove the brackets
END
FROM tb_value V
WHERE conditions... -- you need something here
This is called a Correlated Scalar Subquery.
It works on any version of Sybase since 4.9.2 with no limitations. And SQL 2005 (last time I looked, anyway, Aug 2009). But on MS you will get a StackTrace if the volume of tb_value is large, so make sure the WHERE clause has some conditions on it.
But MS have broken the server with their "new" 2008 codeline, so it does not work in all circumstances (the worse your mangled files, the less likely it will work; the better your database design, the more likely it will work). That is why some MS people pray every day for the next Service pack, and others never attend church.
I guess you want something like this:
Adding tables and one row per table into tb_modules is straight forward.
SET NOCOUNT ON
if OBJECT_ID('tb_modules') > 0 drop table tb_modules;
if OBJECT_ID('tb_value') > 0 drop table tb_value;
if OBJECT_ID('tb_usertype') > 0 drop table tb_usertype;
if OBJECT_ID('tb_religion') > 0 drop table tb_religion;
go
create table dbo.tb_modules (
id int,
description varchar(20),
tablename varchar(255)
);
insert into tb_modules values ( 1, 'UserType', 'tb_usertype');
insert into tb_modules values ( 2, 'Religion', 'tb_religion');
create table dbo.tb_value(
id int,
tb_modules_ID int,
usertype_OR_religion_ID int
);
insert into tb_value values ( 1111, 1, 45);
insert into tb_value values ( 1112, 1, 55);
insert into tb_value values ( 1113, 2, 123);
insert into tb_value values ( 1114, 2, 234);
create table dbo.tb_usertype(
id int,
UserType varchar(30)
);
insert into tb_usertype values ( 45, 'User_type_45');
insert into tb_usertype values ( 55, 'User_type_55');
create table dbo.tb_religion(
id int,
Religion varchar(30)
);
insert into tb_religion values ( 123, 'Religion_123');
insert into tb_religion values ( 234, 'Religion_234');
-- start of query
declare #sql varchar(max) = null
Select #sql = case when #sql is null then ' ' else #sql + char(10) + 'union all ' end
+ 'Select ' + str(id) + ' type, id, ' + description + ' description from ' + tablename from tb_modules
set #sql = 'select v.id, tb_modules_ID , usertype_OR_religion_ID , t.description
from tb_value v
join ( ' + #sql + ') as t
on v.tb_modules_ID = t.type and v.usertype_OR_religion_ID = t.id
'
Print #sql
exec( #sql)
I think it's intended to be used with dynamic sql.
Maybe break out each tb_value.tb_modules_ID row into its own temp table, named with the tb_modules.tablename.
Then have an sp iterate through the temp tables matching your naming convention (by prefix or suffix) building the sql and doing your join.