Pivoting SQL Server 2005 for unknown number of rows - sql

Question

My table is a dynamic one. E.g.:
id SUBJECT
1 his
2 math
3 sci
4 opt
5 ENG
6 SOC
The number of rows is not limited. There could be a hundred. I want output like this:
ID 1 2 3 4 5 6
HIS MATH SCI OPT ENG SOC
I could use a pivot query, but I would have to know the number of columns. How can I do this without knowing the number of columns in advance?

Answer 1

i got an answer but it's very tricky
create a table for all your records
count the records
create a table with that much number of columns
create a comma separated variable for the table which has records
then split the comma separated variables into multiple columns
here is the code
DECLARE #HEADDESC NVARCHAR(150)
DROP TABLE #HEADS
CREATE TABLE #HEADS
(
ID INT IDENTITY
,HEADS NVARCHAR(150)
,NU INT
)
DECLARE #NO INT;
SET #NO = 0
DECLARE C1 CURSOR FOR (
SELECT HEADDESC
FROM GMC.FEEHEAD_MASTER
WHERE CODE = 'GF' AND HEADDESC <> '')
OPEN C1
FETCH NEXT FROM C1 INTO #HEADDESC
WHILE ##FETCH_STATUS = 0
BEGIN
PRINT #HEADDESC
SET #NO = #NO+1
INSERT INTO #HEADS(HEADS,NU)
VALUES(#HEADDESC,#NO)
FETCH NEXT FROM C1 INTO #HEADDESC
END
--SELECT * FROM #HEADS
CLOSE C1
DEALLOCATE C1
DECLARE #COLNO INT
SET #COLNO = (SELECT COUNT(*) FROM #HEADS)
DECLARE #COLUMNS VARCHAR(8000)
SELECT #COLUMNS = COALESCE(#COLUMNS +','+ CAST(HEADS AS VARCHAR) ,
CAST(HEADS AS VARCHAR))
FROM #HEADS
--GROUP BY HEADS
DECLARE #value NVARCHAR(100)
SET #value = ',1,STUDENTIDNO,STUDENTNAME,'
SET #COLUMNS = #VALUE+#COLUMNS
SET #COLNO = #COLNO+4
--SELECT #COLUMNS
DROP TABLE #HEADSCOMMA
CREATE TABLE #HEADSCOMMA(HEADS NVARCHAR(3000))
INSERT INTO #HEADSCOMMA VALUES (#COLUMNS)
DROP TABLE #TEMP
CREATE TABLE #TEMP(COL1 NVARCHAR(1000))
DECLARE #SQL NVARCHAR(MAX)
DECLARE #COL NVARCHAR(1000)
DECLARE #COL1 INT
DECLARE #COLNAME NVARCHAR(1000)
SET #COL1 = 2
SET #COL = 'COL'
PRINT #COL1
--SET #COLNAME = #COL +CAST(#COL1 AS NVARCHAR(10))
WHILE #COL1 < =#COLNO
BEGIN
SET #COLNAME = #COL +CAST(#COL1 AS NVARCHAR(100))
PRINT #COLNAME
SET #SQL = 'ALTER TABLE #TEMP ADD '+#COLNAME+' NVARCHAR(100)'
EXEC(#SQL)
SET #COL1= #COL1+1
END
--SELECT * FROM #HEADSCOMMA -- COMMA SEPERATED VALUES
DECLARE #S VARCHAR(8000), #DATA VARCHAR(8000)
--DROP TABLE #NORMALISEDTABLE
--CREATE TABLE #NORMALISEDTABLE (HEADS NVARCHAR(200))
SELECT #S=''
WHILE EXISTS (SELECT * FROM #HEADSCOMMA WHERE HEADS>#S)
BEGIN
SELECT #S=HEADS FROM #HEADSCOMMA WHERE HEADS>#S
PRINT #S
SELECT #DATA=''''+REPLACE(#S,',',''',''')+''''
PRINT #DATA
INSERT INTO #TEMP
EXEC('SELECT '+#DATA)
END
SELECT * FROM #temp
will give the records

Answer 2

Dynamic SQL is an option.