How to create a table using "With" clause in SQL - sql

Question

I'm attempting to create a persistent table using the WITH clause however, I'm getting an error.
For context the answer that I currently find is
CREATE TABLE my_table
AS
WITH my_tables_data AS (
SELECT another_table.data1 AS some_value
FROM another_table
)
SELECT *
FROM some_data;
However, I am getting an error
Msg 319, Level 15, State 1, Line 5 Incorrect syntax near the keyword
'with'. If this statement is a common table expression, an
xmlnamespaces clause or a change tracking context clause, the previous
statement must be terminated with a semicolon.
My code is
CREATE TABLE SalesOrdersPerYear
WITH t1 AS (
-- Define the CTE expression name and column list.
WITH Sales_CTE (SalesPersonID, BaseSalary)
AS
-- Define the CTE query.
(
SELECT SALES_PERSON.SALES_PERSON_ID, SALES_PERSON.BASE_SALARY
FROM SALES_PERSON
WHERE SALES_PERSON_ID IS NOT NULL
)
-- Define the outer query referencing the CTE name.
SELECT SalesPersonID, BaseSalary AS TotalSales
FROM Sales_CTE
ORDER BY SalesPersonID, BaseSalary;
)
Would anyone be able to provide some guidance on this?
Many thanks in advance!

Answer 1

This is not valid syntax for sql server. you can either create a table using CREATE TABLE and specifying the column names and types, or you can do a SELECT INTO statement including data.
Approach 1 : Create the table and then populate:
CREATE TABLE SalesOrdersPerYear
( SalesPersonID int, BaseSalary float)
;
WITH Sales_CTE (SalesPersonID, BaseSalary)
AS
(
SELECT SALES_PERSON.SALES_PERSON_ID, SALES_PERSON.BASE_SALARY
FROM SALES_PERSON
WHERE SALES_PERSON_ID IS NOT NULL
)
insert into SalesOrdersPerYear
SELECT SalesPersonID, BaseSalary AS TotalSales
FROM Sales_CTE
ORDER BY SalesPersonID, BaseSalary;
Approach 2 - all in one step
WITH Sales_CTE (SalesPersonID, BaseSalary)
AS
(
SELECT SALES_PERSON.SALES_PERSON_ID, SALES_PERSON.BASE_SALARY
FROM SALES_PERSON
WHERE SALES_PERSON_ID IS NOT NULL
)
select SalesPersonID, BaseSalary AS TotalSales
into SalesOrdersPerYear
FROM Sales_CTE
ORDER BY SalesPersonID, BaseSalary;
Use approach 1 when you need to specify more about the table (primary keys, indexes, foregin keys etc.
Use approach 2 for things that are more temporary. (you would normally use a temporary table such as #SalesOrdersPerYear here).
Either way, the data is now stored in your table, and you can use it again.
Using temporary tables:
-- Check for existence and drop first to avoid errors if it already exists.
if OBJECT_ID('tempdb..#SalesOrdersPerYear') is not null
drop table #SalesOrdersPerYear
WITH Sales_CTE (SalesPersonID, BaseSalary)
AS
(
SELECT SALES_PERSON.SALES_PERSON_ID, SALES_PERSON.BASE_SALARY
FROM SALES_PERSON
WHERE SALES_PERSON_ID IS NOT NULL
)
select SalesPersonID, BaseSalary AS TotalSales
into #SalesOrdersPerYear
FROM Sales_CTE
ORDER BY SalesPersonID, BaseSalary;
You could also define it as a table variable, which is a bit of a cross between the approaches:
declare #SalesOrdersPerYear table
( SalesPersonID int, BaseSalary float)
;
WITH Sales_CTE (SalesPersonID, BaseSalary)
AS
(
SELECT SALES_PERSON.SALES_PERSON_ID, SALES_PERSON.BASE_SALARY
FROM SALES_PERSON
WHERE SALES_PERSON_ID IS NOT NULL
)
insert into #SalesOrdersPerYear
SELECT SalesPersonID, BaseSalary AS TotalSales
FROM Sales_CTE
ORDER BY SalesPersonID, BaseSalary;
This option will only persist with this batch, and does not need dropping - just like any other variable.

Answer 2

Creating a view using WITH and SELECT :
CREATE VIEW SCHEMA.DEMO
AS
WITH STAGING AS (
SELECT col1 as id,col2 as name from tbl1
UNION ALL
SELECT col1 as id,col3 as name from tbl2
)
SELECT distinct id,name
FROM STAGING;

Answer 3

CREATE VIEW AS my_view
AS
WITH my_tables_data AS (
SELECT another_table.data1 AS some_value
FROM another_table
)
SELECT *
FROM some_data;
CREATE TABLE my_table AS
SELECT * FROM my_view;