mlandry (12/3/2008)
Jeff,Whoa, using SQL to do cross-tabs really is "old school" (circa mid-90's or before.) It just wasn't designed for this.
Do yourself a BIG favor and try Analysis Services. The MDX language is everything the SQL "select-groupby" ever wanted to be when it grew up. And it's far more expressive in terms of business reporting than SQL will ever be.
Mark Landry
Tampa, FL
Thanks, Mark... yep... I absolutely agree with everything you said. But, it is a bit more difficult to setup Analysis Services and learn the MDX language than it is to learn how to do a simple cross-tab. Lot's of folks/shops just won't go through it. Not saying that's right or wrong, but simply a fact based on the number of requests for help on cross-tabs on these forums in the last 12 months or so. I figured that if they're going to write a cross tab, they might as well learn how to do it without a cursor or While loop. 🙂
It just wasn't designed for this.
Heh... T-SQL wasn't designed for most of what I do with it... 😛
--Jeff Moden
Change is inevitable... Change for the better is not.