September 19, 2012 at 5:45 am
DECLARE @t TABLE( col1 VARCHAR(1), col2 VARCHAR(1), col3 VARCHAR(1), col4 VARCHAR(1) )
INSERT INTO @t VALUES( 'A', 'B', 'C','D' );
INSERT INTO @t VALUES( 'D', 'E', 'F','E' );
INSERT INTO @t VALUES( 'A', 'J', 'K','D' );
INSERT INTO @t VALUES( 'G', 'H', 'H','E' );
SELECT * FROM @t
Col1Col2Col3Col4
----------------
ABID
DEFE
AJKD
GHHC
I want the unique values as below,
RESULT
-------
A
B
C
D
E
F
G
H
I
J
K
Please give me the query which provides good performance.
September 19, 2012 at 6:20 am
Couldn't you just unpivot your data? Something like:
SELECT DISTINCT SpecificCols
FROM
(SELECT col1, col2, col3, col4
FROM @t) t
UNPIVOT
(SpecificCols FOR AllCols IN (col1, col2, col3, col4)) AS unpvt;
HTH,
Rob
September 19, 2012 at 6:30 am
THANKS ROB. IT HELPS LOT 🙂
September 19, 2012 at 6:48 pm
robert.gerald.taylor (9/19/2012)
Couldn't you just unpivot your data? Something like:
SELECT DISTINCT SpecificCols
FROM
(SELECT col1, col2, col3, col4
FROM @t) t
UNPIVOT
(SpecificCols FOR AllCols IN (col1, col2, col3, col4)) AS unpvt;
HTH,
Rob
There's a (usually) faster way:
SELECT col
FROM @t
CROSS APPLY (
VALUES (col1), (col2), (col3), (col4)) a(col)
This article describes the CROSS APPLY VALUES approach to UNPIVOT: http://www.sqlservercentral.com/Authors/Articles/Dwain_Camps/1444841/ including some information on the performance characteristics. More detailed performance results can be found in the associated discussion thread.
My thought question: Have you ever been told that your query runs too fast?
My advice:
INDEXing a poor-performing query is like putting sugar on cat food. Yeah, it probably tastes better but are you sure you want to eat it?
The path of least resistance can be a slippery slope. Take care that fixing your fixes of fixes doesn't snowball and end up costing you more than fixing the root cause would have in the first place.
Need to UNPIVOT? Why not CROSS APPLY VALUES instead?[/url]
Since random numbers are too important to be left to chance, let's generate some![/url]
Learn to understand recursive CTEs by example.[/url]
[url url=http://www.sqlservercentral.com/articles/St
September 20, 2012 at 6:05 am
dwain.c (9/19/2012)
There's a (usually) faster way:
SELECT col
FROM @t
CROSS APPLY (
VALUES (col1), (col2), (col3), (col4)) a(col)
This article describes the CROSS APPLY VALUES approach to UNPIVOT: http://www.sqlservercentral.com/Authors/Articles/Dwain_Camps/1444841/ including some information on the performance characteristics. More detailed performance results can be found in the associated discussion thread.
Good article; thanks for pointing that out. I wasn't aware of that.
Rob
September 20, 2012 at 6:08 am
You're welcome.
I know the author well. He's not that skilled but once in awhile gets inspired.:-D
My thought question: Have you ever been told that your query runs too fast?
My advice:
INDEXing a poor-performing query is like putting sugar on cat food. Yeah, it probably tastes better but are you sure you want to eat it?
The path of least resistance can be a slippery slope. Take care that fixing your fixes of fixes doesn't snowball and end up costing you more than fixing the root cause would have in the first place.
Need to UNPIVOT? Why not CROSS APPLY VALUES instead?[/url]
Since random numbers are too important to be left to chance, let's generate some![/url]
Learn to understand recursive CTEs by example.[/url]
[url url=http://www.sqlservercentral.com/articles/St
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