I have following schema. In which
Types represent DB Table
TypeProperty represents Column of Table
TypeRow represent Row of table
I want to write a select query to which I will pass single Type and it should give me all its TypeProperty, TypeRow and TypeValue that are associated with these Properties and Rows.
I will be showing this data in a web application in which user will select a Type from dropdown and application will get Properties, Rows and associated values and will show them as a complete grid.
I am using SQL Server 2014.
Can anyone help me please?
So, i'm going to try and take a crack at what you have been getting help with Kannan on.
It sounds like you have two different queries to the database:
1) Query results of the list of 'Type(s)' for your dropdown,(You should be able to do this fairly easily)
2) query results of the list of 'Propert(ies)', 'Row(s)', and 'value(s) that match the selected 'Type' in the dropdown as a table with the properties as the header to set table.
To me it seems the easest and best way to handle this would be to get the data back using Kannan's script (probably inside of a stored procedure and maybe a view?) and create the grid in code from your back-end application, or front end client. However, if you cant, here is a script that should work or at the least get you started.
I would suggest maybe creating two stored procs, one to retrieve the data, and another to pivot using dynamic sql.
CREATE PROCEDURE dbo.EAV_GridGenerator
#TypeId int = 0,
#param2 int
AS
BEGIN TRY
DECLARE #cols varchar(max),
#query varchar(max);
--TODO: CLEAN UP VARIABLE NAMES THROUGHOUT
SELECT trow.TypesId, tprop.PropertyName AS [Column], trow.TypeRowId AS [RowID], tval.Value AS [Data]
INTO #TT2
FROM dbo.[Types] AS t
JOIN dbo.TypeRow trow
ON t.typesId = trow.typesId
JOIN dbo.TypeValue tval
ON tval.TypeRowsId = trow.TypeRowId
JOIN dbo.[TypeProperty] tprop
ON tval.TypesPropertyId = tprop.TypePropertyId
WHERE trow.TypesId = #TypeId
--AND t.IsActive = 1 AND tprop.IsActive = 1 AND trow.IsActive = 1 AND tval.IsActive = 1--TODO: IDK but you should probably add both of these
-- AND t.IsDelete = 1 AND tprop.IsDelete = 1 AND trow.IsDelete = 1 AND tval.IsDelete = 1--TODO: IDK but you should probably add both of these
ORDER BY RowID, [Column], Data
SELECT #cols = STUFF(( SELECT DISTINCT TOP 100 PERCENT
'],[' + t.[Column]
FROM #TT2 AS t
--ORDER BY '],[' + t.ID
FOR XML PATH('')
), 1, 2, '') + ']'
SET #query = N'SELECT RowID,'+ #cols +' FROM
(SELECT tt2.RowID,tt2.[Column] , tt2.Data FROM #tt2 AS tt2) p
PIVOT (max([data]) FOR [Column] IN ( '+ #cols +'))
AS pvt;'
EXECUTE(#query)
drop table #TT2
END TRY
BEGIN CATCH
--TODO: PROPER CATCH
END CATCH
A simple join will work.. Are you looking this?
Select * --your required columns
from Types t
inner join TypesProperty tp
on t.TypesId = tp.TypesId
inner join TypeRow tr
on t.TypesId = tr.TypesId
Left join TypeValue tv
on tp.TypesPropertyId = tv.TypesPrpertyId
--You need to join using typeRowid with typeValue if your require value details
Related
I am using MS SQL and created one Dynamic stored procedure:
ALTER Procedure [dbo].[sp_MTracking]
(
#OList varchar(MAX)
)
As
BEGIN TRY
SET NOCOUNT ON
DECLARE #SQL varchar(600)
SET #SQL = 'select os.X,os.Y from Table1 as os join Table2 as s on os.sID=s.sID where s.SCode IN ('+ #OList +')'
exec (#SQL)
END TRY
BEGIN CATCH
Execute sp_DB_ErrorInfo
Select -1 Result
END CATCH
GO
It is working properly, but I am getting x,y values in reverse order.
For example if I am passing 'scode1,scode2' as parameter, I am getting x,y values for scode1 in 2nd row and x,y values for scode2 as first row.
How can I fix this issue
Thanks
This is a bit long for a comment.
SQL tables and results sets represent unordered sets. There is no ordering, unless you explicitly use an ORDER BY clause.
Your query does not have an ORDER BY. Hence, you have no reason to expect the results in any particular order. In addition, the ordering may be different on different runs of the query. If you want the results in a particular order, add ORDER BY.
Probably the easiest way is to use charindex():
order by charindex(',' + s.code + ',' , ',''' + #olist + ''',')
This is a bit more cumbersome in dynamic sql:
SET #SQL = '
select os.X,os.Y
from Table1 os join
Table2 s
on os.sID = s.sID
where s.SCode IN (' + #OList + ')
order by charindex('','' + s.code + '','', '',''' + #OList + ''', '')
';
Well, there are a couple of things here.
The first thing is what Gordon wrote - to ensure the order of the result set you must use the order by clause.
Second, like Devart demonstrated in his answer, you don't need dynamic sql for this kind of procedures.
Third, if you want your results ordered by the order of the parameters in the list, you should use a slightly different approach then Devart wrote.
Therefor, here are my 2 cents:
If you can change the stored procedure to accept a table valued parameter instead of VARCHAR(max) that would be your best option IMHO.
If not, you must use a split function to create a table from that varchar and then use that table in your select.
Note that you will have to choose a split function that returns a table with two columns - one for the value and one for it's position in the original string.
Whatever the case may be, the rest of the sql should be something like this:
SELECT os.X, os.Y
FROM Table1 os
INNER JOIN Table2 s ON os.[sID] = s.[sID]
INNER JOIN #TVP t ON s.SCode = t.Value
ORDER BY t.Sort
That's assuming #TVP to be a Table containing a Value column that's the same data type of SCode in table2, and a Sort column (an int, naturally).
Without dynamic sql -
ALTER PROCEDURE [dbo].[sp_MTracking]
(
#OList VARCHAR(MAX)
)
AS BEGIN
SET NOCOUNT ON
DECLARE #t TABLE (val VARCHAR(50) PRIMARY KEY WITH(IGNORE_DUP_KEY=ON))
INSERT INTO #t
SELECT item = t.c.value('.', 'INT')
FROM (
SELECT txml = CAST('<r>' + REPLACE(#OList, ',', '</r><r>') + '</r>' AS XML)
) r
CROSS APPLY txml.nodes('/r') t(c)
SELECT os.X, os.Y
FROM Table1 os
JOIN Table2 s ON os.[sID] = s.[sID]
WHERE s.SCode IN (SELECT * FROM #t)
--OPTION(RECOMPILE)
END
GO
I'm trying to figure out a way to update a record without having to list every column name that needs to be updated.
For instance, it would be nice if I could use something similar to the following:
// the parts inside braces are what I am trying to figure out
UPDATE Employee
SET {all columns, without listing each of them}
WITH {this record with id of '111' from other table}
WHERE employee_id = '100'
If this can be done, what would be the most straightforward/efficient way of writing such a query?
It's not possible.
What you're trying to do is not part of SQL specification and is not supported by any database vendor. See the specifications of SQL UPDATE statements for MySQL, Postgresql, MSSQL, Oracle, Firebird, Teradata. Every one of those supports only below syntax:
UPDATE table_reference
SET column1 = {expression} [, column2 = {expression}] ...
[WHERE ...]
This is not posible, but..
you can doit:
begin tran
delete from table where CONDITION
insert into table select * from EqualDesingTabletoTable where CONDITION
commit tran
be carefoul with identity fields.
Here's a hardcore way to do it with SQL SERVER. Carefully consider security and integrity before you try it, though.
This uses schema to get the names of all the columns and then puts together a big update statement to update all columns except ID column, which it uses to join the tables.
This only works for a single column key, not composites.
usage: EXEC UPDATE_ALL 'source_table','destination_table','id_column'
CREATE PROCEDURE UPDATE_ALL
#SOURCE VARCHAR(100),
#DEST VARCHAR(100),
#ID VARCHAR(100)
AS
DECLARE #SQL VARCHAR(MAX) =
'UPDATE D SET ' +
-- Google 'for xml path stuff' This gets the rows from query results and
-- turns into comma separated list.
STUFF((SELECT ', D.'+ COLUMN_NAME + ' = S.' + COLUMN_NAME
FROM INFORMATION_SCHEMA.COLUMNS
WHERE TABLE_NAME = #DEST
AND COLUMN_NAME <> #ID
FOR XML PATH('')),1,1,'')
+ ' FROM ' + #SOURCE + ' S JOIN ' + #DEST + ' D ON S.' + #ID + ' = D.' + #ID
--SELECT #SQL
EXEC (#SQL)
In Oracle PL/SQL, you can use the following syntax:
DECLARE
r my_table%ROWTYPE;
BEGIN
r.a := 1;
r.b := 2;
...
UPDATE my_table
SET ROW = r
WHERE id = r.id;
END;
Of course that just moves the burden from the UPDATE statement to the record construction, but you might already have fetched the record from somewhere.
How about using Merge?
https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb522522(v=sql.105).aspx
It gives you the ability to run Insert, Update, and Delete. One other piece of advice is if you're going to be updating a large data set with indexes, and the source subset is smaller than your target but both tables are very large, move the changes to a temporary table first. I tried to merge two tables that were nearly two million rows each and 20 records took 22 minutes. Once I moved the deltas over to a temp table, it took seconds.
If you are using Oracle, you can use rowtype
declare
var_x TABLE_A%ROWTYPE;
Begin
select * into var_x
from TABLE_B where rownum = 1;
update TABLE_A set row = var_x
where ID = var_x.ID;
end;
/
given that TABLE_A and TABLE_B are of same schema
It is possible. Like npe said it's not a standard practice. But if you really have to:
1. First a scalar function
CREATE FUNCTION [dte].[getCleanUpdateQuery] (#pTableName varchar(40), #pQueryFirstPart VARCHAR(200) = '', #pQueryLastPart VARCHAR(200) = '', #pIncludeCurVal BIT = 1)
RETURNS VARCHAR(8000) AS
BEGIN
DECLARE #pQuery VARCHAR(8000);
WITH cte_Temp
AS
(
SELECT
C.name
FROM SYS.COLUMNS AS C
INNER JOIN SYS.TABLES AS T ON T.object_id = C.object_id
WHERE T.name = #pTableName
)
SELECT #pQuery = (
CASE #pIncludeCurVal
WHEN 0 THEN
(
STUFF(
(SELECT ', ' + name + ' = ' + #pQueryFirstPart + #pQueryLastPart FROM cte_Temp FOR XML PATH('')), 1, 2, ''
)
)
ELSE
(
STUFF(
(SELECT ', ' + name + ' = ' + #pQueryFirstPart + name + #pQueryLastPart FROM cte_Temp FOR XML PATH('')), 1, 2, ''
)
) END)
RETURN 'UPDATE ' + #pTableName + ' SET ' + #pQuery
END
2. Use it like this
DECLARE #pQuery VARCHAR(8000) = dte.getCleanUpdateQuery(<your table name>, <query part before current value>, <query part after current value>, <1 if current value is used. 0 if updating everything to a static value>);
EXEC (#pQuery)
Example 1: make all employees columns 'Unknown' (you need to make sure column type matches the intended value:
DECLARE #pQuery VARCHAR(8000) = dte.getCleanUpdateQuery('employee', '', 'Unknown', 0);
EXEC (#pQuery)
Example 2: Remove an undesired text qualifier (e.g. #)
DECLARE #pQuery VARCHAR(8000) = dte.getCleanUpdateQuery('employee', 'REPLACE(', ', ''#'', '''')', 1);
EXEC (#pQuery)
This query can be improved. This is just the one I saved and sometime I use. You get the idea.
Similar to an upsert, you could check if the item exists on the table, if so, delete it and insert it with the new values (technically updating it) but you would lose your rowid if that's something sensitive to keep in your case.
Behold, the updelsert
IF NOT EXISTS (SELECT * FROM Employee WHERE ID = #SomeID)
INSERT INTO Employee VALUES(#SomeID, #Your, #Vals, #Here)
ELSE
DELETE FROM Employee WHERE ID = #SomeID
INSERT INTO Employee VALUES(#SomeID, #Your, #Vals, #Here)
you could do it by deleting the column in the table and adding the column back in and adding a default value of whatever you needed it to be. then saving this will require to rebuild the table
OK, first a disclaimer. I'm using an Entity Attribute Value approach in a couple of my tables. So basically I have a List of attributes in a single column in one table that I want to then populate it in a single row in a seperate view.
I found this solution and it works great:
SQL: Dynamic view with column names based on column values in source table
However the initial load was extremely slow (it took over 27 minutes to populate 514 rows). I thought something didn't seem right at all so I messed around with selecting portions of the Client table using TOP. I got instant results. I found that I could instantly queue the entire database this way. However I found a very weird caveat. The most I could select was 5250 records.
Up to this point I was still getting instant results. If I tried to select 5251, the query hangs. I tried it on a test server and got the same limitations but with a different number (I could select a max of 5321 there). Keep in mind the table has only 514 records, so I have no idea why adding 1 number to a TOP select would cause it to hang. Does anyone have any input in this? Here's my working sql query below:
DECLARE #cols AS NVARCHAR(MAX)
DECLARE #query AS NVARCHAR(MAX)
select #cols = STUFF((SELECT distinct ',' + QUOTENAME(a.AttributeName)
from AttributeCodes a
FOR XML PATH(''), TYPE).value('.', 'NVARCHAR(MAX)')
,1,1,'')
set #query = 'SELECT TOP 5250 ClientID, ' + #cols + ' from
(
select c.ClientID
, c.[Value]
, a.AttributeName
from Client c
inner join AttributeCodes a
on a.AttributeCodeId = c.AttributeCodeID
)x
pivot
(
min([Value])
for AttributeName in (' + #cols + ')
)p'
execute(#query)
EDIT:
OK it seems as though the problem is that the execution plan is completely changed by adding another digit. I'll post the two results below. I still don't know why it would change, and if there is any way I can prevent it from using a Hash Match instead of an Inner Join.
Execution Plan 1 (instant):
Execution Plan 2 (30+ minutes):
Without looking at the exact index design and knowing exactly the size and scope of what you're selecting and what's in the database, I can't give you the exact reason.
But what I can tell you is that there are cost thresholds that SQL Server uses to come up with plans about whether it's more advantageous to scan a table or perform a large amount of seeks. What's happening here is that SQL Server seems to be crossing that threshold at the 5250/5251 boundary.
If you were to add many more data rows to your main table, rebuild the statistics, and then re-query, you would likely find that SQL Server would stop scanning and hashing and would return to the lookup-based plan because the proportion of rows it would have to repeatedly seek would once again be lower.
So, how to eliminate this problem? I'll start out by saying that EAV can be fine for certain types of designs in certain scenarios, but when you're pulling a lot of data from the system, or you want reports off of these models, EAV becomes problematic, and these are the types of problems you tend to see. Since you're selective
You have a couple of possible solutions here.
Add a LOOP JOIN hint to your join. Yuck.
Be more selective in what you're asking from the database -- for example, just ask it for the values for a single client at a time.
Re-evaluate your reasons for using the EAV model and redesign your data model using conventional techniques.
Again, I don't know much about your reasoning for this design, so if I were in your position and my back were against the wall, I would probably do a combination of 1) and 3). I'd add the hint to "staunch the bleeding" as it were, and then I'd consider re-evaluating the decision to use an entity-attribute-value design altogether.
The following is a formatted comment, not an answer.
Out of morbid curiosity, I've been fiddling about with the following test code. I realize that is does not have the proper code for checking for the existence of the test tables, that the edge cases for the random numbers are undoubtedly wrong, ... . So it goes.
The intent is to create considerably more test data and larger results than those described in the question. With the parameters shown it requires roughly 306 seconds to initialize and 87 seconds to run the dynamic query on my notebook. (Windows 7 Professional 64-bit, 16GB memory, SQL Server 2008 R2 64-bit.) I've seen no indications of any difficulties. Daniel, do you see any obvious differences e.g. a different data type for the Value column that might be larger? Version of SQL Server? Available memory? Did I completely muck up your EAV representation?
-- Test parameters.
declare #NumberOfAttributes as Int = 1000
declare #NumberOfClients as Int = 1000
declare #NumberOfSampleRows as Int = 1000000
declare #NumberOfTopRows as Int = 10000
declare #Start as DateTime = GetDate()
-- Houseclean any prior data.
if Object_Id( 'AttributeCodes' ) is not NULL
drop table AttributeCodes
if Object_Id( 'Client' ) is not NULL
drop table Client
-- Create the tables.
create table AttributeCodes (
AttributeCodeId Int Identity(1,1) not NULL,
AttributeName VarChar(64) not NULL )
create table Client (
ClientId Int not NULL,
AttributeCodeId Int not NULL,
[Value] VarChar(64) not NULL )
set nocount on
-- Generate some sample attributes.
declare #Count as Int
set #Count = #NumberOfAttributes
while ( #Count > 0 )
begin
insert into AttributeCodes ( AttributeName ) values
( 'Attr_' + Right( '000' + Cast( #Count as VarChar(8) ), 4 ) )
set #Count = #Count - 1
end
-- Generate some sample client data.
declare #ClientId as Int
declare #AttributeCodeId as Int
set #Count = #NumberOfSampleRows
while ( #Count > 0 )
begin
set #ClientId = 1 + Cast( Rand() * #NumberOfClients as Int )
set #AttributeCodeId = 1 + Cast( Rand() * #NumberOfAttributes as Int )
insert into Client ( ClientId, AttributeCodeId, Value ) values
( #ClientId, #AttributeCodeId, Replicate( 'i', Cast( Rand() * 64 as Int ) ) )
set #Count = #Count - 1
end
-- Build the list of columns.
declare #Cols as NVarChar(Max)
select #Cols = Stuff(
( select ',' + QuoteName( AttributeName ) from AttributeCodes order by AttributeName for XML path(''), type).value( '.[1]', 'NVarChar(max)' ), 1, 1, '' );
-- Build an execute the summary query.
declare #Query as NVarChar(Max)
set #Query = 'select top (' + Cast( #NumberOfTopRows as VarChar(8) ) + ') ClientId, ' + #Cols +
' from ( select C.ClientId, C.[Value], A.AttributeName from Client as C inner join AttributeCodes as A on A.AttributeCodeId = C.AttributeCodeId ) as X' +
' pivot ( Min( [Value] ) for AttributeName in (' + #cols + ') ) as P'
declare #InitializationComplete as DateTime = GetDate()
execute( #Query )
select DateDiff( ms, #Start, #InitializationComplete ) as 'Initialization (ms)',
DateDiff( ms, #InitializationComplete, GetDate() ) as 'Query (ms)',
DateDiff( mi, #Start, GetDate() ) as 'Total (min)'
I've been working on a project and came across some interesting behavior when using SELECT INTO. If I have a table with a column defined as int identity(1,1) not null and use SELECT INTO to copy it, the new table will retain the IDENTITY property unless there is a join involved. If there is a join, then the same column on the new table is defined simply as int not null.
Here is a script that you can run to reproduce the behavior:
CREATE TABLE People (Id INT IDENTITY(1,1) not null, Name VARCHAR(10))
CREATE TABLE ReverseNames (Name varchar(10), ReverseName varchar(10))
INSERT INTO People (Name)
VALUES ('John'), ('Jamie'), ('Joe'), ('Jenna')
INSERT INTO ReverseNames (Name, ReverseName)
VALUES ('John','nhoJ'), ('Jamie','eimaJ'), ('Joe','eoJ'), ('Jenna','anneJ')
--------
SELECT Id, Name
INTO People_ExactCopy
FROM People
SELECT Id, ReverseName as Name
INTO People_WithJoin
FROM People
JOIN ReverseNames
ON People.Name = ReverseNames.Name
SELECT Id, (SELECT ReverseName FROM ReverseNames WHERE Name = People.Name) as Name
INTO People_WithSubSelect
FROM People
--------
SELECT OBJECT_NAME(c.object_id) as [Table],
c.is_identity as [Id Column Retained Identity]
FROM sys.columns c
where
OBJECT_NAME(c.object_id) IN ('People_ExactCopy','People_WithJoin','People_WithSubSelect')
AND c.name = 'Id'
--------
DROP TABLE People
DROP TABLE People_ExactCopy
DROP TABLE People_WithJoin
DROP TABLE People_WithSubSelect
DROP TABLE ReverseNames
I noticed that the execution plans for both the WithJoin and WithSubSelect queries contained one join operator. I'm not sure if one will be significantly better on performance if we were dealing with a larger set of rows.
Can anyone shed any light on this and tell me if there is a way to utilize SELECT INTO with joins and still preserve the IDENTITY property?
From Microsoft:
When an existing identity column is
selected into a new table, the new
column inherits the IDENTITY property,
unless one of the following conditions
is true:
The SELECT statement contains a join, GROUP BY clause, or aggregate function.
Multiple SELECT statements are joined by using UNION.
The identity column is listed more than one time in the select list.
The identity column is part of an expression.
The identity column is from a remote data source.
If any one of these conditions is
true, the column is created NOT NULL
instead of inheriting the IDENTITY
property. If an identity column is
required in the new table but such a
column is not available, or you want a
seed or increment value that is
different than the source identity
column, define the column in the
select list using the IDENTITY
function.
You could use the IDENTITY function as they suggest and omit the IDENTITY column, but then you would lose the values, as the IDENTITY function would generate new values and I don't think that those are easily determinable, even with ORDER BY.
I don't believe there is much you can do, except build your CREATE TABLE statements manually, SET IDENTITY_INSERT ON, insert the existing values, then SET IDENTITY_INSERT OFF. Yes you lose the benefits of SELECT INTO, but unless your tables are huge and you are doing this a lot, [shrug]. This is not fun of course, and it's not as pretty or simple as SELECT INTO, but you can do it somewhat programmatically, assuming two tables, one having a simple identity (1,1), and a simple INNER JOIN:
SET NOCOUNT ON;
DECLARE
#NewTable SYSNAME = N'dbo.People_ExactCopy',
#JoinCondition NVARCHAR(255) = N' ON p.Name = r.Name';
DECLARE
#cols TABLE(t SYSNAME, c SYSNAME, p CHAR(1));
INSERT #cols SELECT N'dbo.People', N'Id', 'p'
UNION ALL SELECT N'dbo.ReverseNames', N'Name', 'r';
DECLARE #sql NVARCHAR(MAX) = N'CREATE TABLE ' + #NewTable + '
(
';
SELECT #sql += c.name + ' ' + t.name
+ CASE WHEN t.name LIKE '%char' THEN
'(' + CASE WHEN c.max_length = -1
THEN 'MAX' ELSE RTRIM(c.max_length/
(CASE WHEN t.name LIKE 'n%' THEN 2 ELSE 1 END)) END
+ ')' ELSE '' END
+ CASE c.is_identity
WHEN 1 THEN ' IDENTITY(1,1)'
ELSE ' ' END + ',
'
FROM sys.columns AS c
INNER JOIN #cols AS cols
ON c.object_id = OBJECT_ID(cols.t)
INNER JOIN sys.types AS t
ON c.system_type_id = t.system_type_id
AND c.name = cols.c;
SET #sql = LEFT(#sql, LEN(#sql)-1) + '
);
SET IDENTITY_INSERT ' + #NewTable + ' ON;
INSERT ' + #NewTable + '(';
SELECT #sql += c + ',' FROM #cols;
SET #sql = LEFT(#sql, LEN(#sql)-1) + ')
SELECT ';
SELECT #sql += p + '.' + c + ',' FROM #cols;
SET #sql = LEFT(#sql, LEN(#sql)-1) + '
FROM ';
SELECT #sql += t + ' AS ' + p + '
INNER JOIN ' FROM (SELECT DISTINCT
t,p FROM #cols) AS x;
SET #sql = LEFT(#sql, LEN(#sql)-10)
+ #JoinCondition + ';
SET IDENTITY_INSERT ' + #NewTable + ' OFF;';
PRINT #sql;
With the tables given above, this produces the following, which you could pass to EXEC sp_executeSQL instead of PRINT:
CREATE TABLE dbo.People_ExactCopy
(
Id int IDENTITY(1,1),
Name varchar(10)
);
SET IDENTITY_INSERT dbo.People_ExactCopy ON;
INSERT dbo.People_ExactCopy(Id,Name)
SELECT p.Id,r.Name
FROM dbo.People AS p
INNER JOIN dbo.ReverseNames AS r
ON p.Name = r.Name;
SET IDENTITY_INSERT dbo.People_ExactCopy OFF;
I did not deal with other complexities such as DECIMAL columns or other columns that have parameters such as max_length, nor did I deal with nullability, but these things wouldn't be hard to add it if you need greater flexibility.
In the next version of SQL Server (code-named "Denali") you should be able to construct a CREATE TABLE statement much easier using the new metadata discovery functions - which do much of the grunt work for you in terms of specifying precision/scale/length, dealing with MAX, etc. You still have to manually create indexes and constraints; but you don't get those with SELECT INTO either.
What we really need is DDL that allows you to say something like "CREATE TABLE a IDENTICAL TO b;" or "CREATE TABLE a BASED ON b;"... it's been asked for here, but has been rejected (this is about copying a table to another schema, but the same concept could apply to a new table in the same schema with a different table name). http://connect.microsoft.com/SQLServer/feedback/details/632689
I realize this is a really late response but whoever is still looking for this solution, like I was until I found this solution:
You can't use the JOIN operator for the IDENTITY column property to be inherited.
What you can do is use a WHERE clause like this:
SELECT a.*
INTO NewTable
FROM
MyTable a
WHERE
EXISTS (SELECT 1 FROM SecondTable b WHERE b.ID = a.ID)
This works.
I have a quite complicated query which will by built up dynamically and is saved in a variable.
As second part i have another normal query and i'd like to make an inner join between these both.
To make it a little more easier here is a little example to illustrate my problem.
For this little example i used the AdventureWorks database.
Some query built up dynamically
(Yes, i know there is nothing dynamic here, cause it's just an example.)
DECLARE #query AS varchar(max) ;
set #query = '
select
HumanResources.Employee.EmployeeID
,HumanResources.Employee.LoginID
,HumanResources.Employee.Title
,HumanResources.EmployeeAddress.AddressID
from
HumanResources.Employee
inner join HumanResources.EmployeeAddress
on HumanResources.Employee.EmployeeID = HumanResources.EmployeeAddress.EmployeeID
;';
EXEC (#query);
The normal query i have
select
Person.Address.AddressID
,Person.Address.City
from
Person.Address
Maybe what i'd like to have but doesn't work
select
#query.*
,Addresses.City
from
#query as Employees
inner join
(
select
Person.Address.AddressID
,Person.Address.City
from
Person.Address
) as Addresses
on Employees.AddressID = Addresses.AddressID
Use temp tables & have the records dumped into it (from the dynamic query) & use the temp table to join with the static query that you have.
set #query = 'CREATE table #myTempTable AS
select
HumanResources.Employee.EmployeeID
,HumanResources.Employee.LoginID
,HumanResources.Employee.Title
,HumanResources.EmployeeAddress.AddressID
from
HumanResources.Employee
inner join HumanResources.EmployeeAddress
on HumanResources.Employee.EmployeeID = HumanResources.EmployeeAddress.EmployeeID
;';
EXEC (#query);
And then
select
Employees.*
,Addresses.City
from
#myTempTable as Employees
inner join
(
select
Person.Address.AddressID
,Person.Address.City
from
Person.Address
) as Addresses
on Employees.AddressID = Addresses.AddressID
You might be on the right track, but as long as you trust the source of the parameter and not exposed for SQL-Injection, you might just have to alter your select when building your #query like:
parameter to your function '#YourAlternateTableParm'
DECLARE #query AS varchar(max) ;
set #query = 'select ' + #YourAlternateTableParm
+ '.*, Addresses.City
from ' + #YourAlternateTableParm
+ ' as Employees
inner join
( ..... '
This way, like you were building your original string, you are building the actual value of the parameter to a function/procedure call with the table name desired to represent your "Employees" file into the string, then you execute that. SQL is not dynamically interpretting the #query inline the way you were trying to do.