create a list of the alphabet via SQL - sql

Question

I would like to produce results from the alphabet via SQL?
Something like this:
A
B
C
D
E
F
I have tried:
SELECT
'A','B','C'
But this just produces the letters across in columns.

Answer 1

Use table spt_values and convert values to chars
SELECT Char(number+65)
FROM master.dbo.spt_values
WHERE name IS NULL AND
number < 26
EDIT: This table is undocumented. But, it's used by many system storedprocedures and it's extremely unlikely for this table to disappear, since all those procs should be rewritten. This would be like poking a sleeping lion.

Answer 2

--
-- tally = 9466 rows in my db, select upper & lower alphas
--
;
with
cte_tally as
(
select row_number() over (order by (select 1)) as n
from sys.all_columns
)
select
char(n) as alpha
from
cte_tally
where
(n > 64 and n < 91) or
(n > 96 and n < 123);
go
The sys.all_columns is a documented table. It will be around for a while.
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms177522.aspx
It seems clear that the table, sp_values, is undocumented and can be removed in the future without any comment from Microsoft.

Answer 3

Try:
select 'A' union
select 'B' union
select 'C'

Answer 4

If you want to print from A to Z, then:
DECLARE #i int=65
WHILE #i < 91
BEGIN
PRINT CHAR(#i);
SET #i=#i+1;
END

Answer 5

You could use U-SQL
Select
[letter]
From
(
Values
('A')
,('B')
,('C')
) As [Letters]([letter])

Answer 6

with AlphabetList as
(
select char(65) letter
union all
select char(ascii(letter) + 1)
from AlphabetList
where letter <> 'Z'
)
select *
from AlphabetList

Answer 7

Using a recursive CTE (common table expression) to output the alphabet, A-Z, one row per letter/character:
;WITH cteAZ AS
(
SELECT ASCII('A') [AlphaCode],CAST('A' AS CHAR(1)) [Alpha]
UNION ALL
SELECT a.AlphaCode + 1 [AlphaCode],CAST(CHAR(a.AlphaCode + 1) AS CHAR(1)) [Alpha]
FROM cteAZ a WHERE a.AlphaCode < ASCII('Z')
)
SELECT
az.AlphaCode,az.Alpha
FROM
cteAZ az

Answer 8

Try this
;WITH CHARA2Z
AS (
SELECT
[ASCII] = ASCII('A'),
[LETTER] = CHAR(ASCII('A'))
UNION ALL
SELECT
[ASCII] + 1,
[LETTER] = CHAR([ASCII]+1)
FROM
CHARA2Z
WHERE
[ASCII] < ASCII('Z')
)
SELECT * FROM CHARA2Z
Replace 'A' & 'Z' by 'a' & 'z' for small letters.

Answer 9

Stemming from #MarkoJuvančič's answer, but a solution that will work on every SQL DBMS:
CREATE TEMPORARY TABLE alphabet (ltr CHAR(1));
SET #row_number = 0;
INSERT INTO alphabet
SELECT
CHAR((#row_number:=#row_number + 1) +64) -- 'A' is the 65th character on the ASCII table
FROM customer -- any table with 26 or more rows could suffice for this job
WHERE #row_number < 26;

Answer 10

SELECT 'A' letter
UNION ALL
SELECT 'B' letter
UNION ALL
SELECT 'C' letter
UNION ALL
SELECT 'D' letter
UNION ALL
SELECT 'E' letter
UNION ALL
SELECT 'F' letter
UNION ALL
SELECT 'G' letter
UNION ALL
SELECT 'H' letter
UNION ALL
SELECT 'I' letter
UNION ALL
SELECT 'J' letter
UNION ALL
SELECT 'K' letter
UNION ALL
SELECT 'L' letter
UNION ALL
SELECT 'M' letter
UNION ALL
SELECT 'N' letter
UNION ALL
SELECT 'O' letter
UNION ALL
SELECT 'P' letter
UNION ALL
SELECT 'Q' letter
UNION ALL
SELECT 'R' letter
UNION ALL
SELECT 'S' letter
UNION ALL
SELECT 'T' letter
UNION ALL
SELECT 'U' letter
UNION ALL
SELECT 'V' letter
UNION ALL
SELECT 'W' letter
UNION ALL
SELECT 'X' letter
UNION ALL
SELECT 'Y' letter
UNION ALL
SELECT 'Z' letter;