Rows to columns without PIVOT in SQL Server - sql-server

Question

I have a 3 tables from which contain this data:
Table 1:
Table 2:
Table 3:
Output:
I have tried using Pivot but it has to have an aggregate function in it.
SELECT
project_code, project_name, fk_prj_project_id,
[A], [B], [C], [D]
FROM
(SELECT
project_code, project_name, employee_name,
fk_prj_project_id, fk_prj_project_id AS nm,
activity_details
FROM
PRJ_MST_PROJECT AS a
LEFT JOIN
PRJ_TNS_DAILY_SUMMARY AS b ON a.pk_prj_project_id = b.fk_prj_project_id
LEFT JOIN
HRM_EMP_MST_EMPLOYEE AS c ON b.fk_hrm_emp_employee_id = c.pk_hrm_emp_employee_id
WHERE
a.project_status = 0
AND b.transaction_status = 1
AND CONVERT(date, b.transaction_date, 103) = CONVERT(date, '15/04/2021', 103)) x
PIVOT
(MAX(nm)
FOR nm IN ([A], [B], [C], [D])
) p

Answer 1

The problem is you set your PIVOT to look for values of nm in A, B, C, and D, but nm is an alias for fk_prj_project_id, which has possible values of 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5. So there are no A, B, C, or D values to be had. I don't even see a name for the column that holds A, B, C, and D, but whatever column that is needs to be what you put in the "FOR ___ IN" section of your pivot.
Test your query by commenting out the reference to the pivot columns in the SELECT and comment out the word PIVOT and everything after it and re-run your query. You should see some column with values A, B, C, D. If you don't, fix your query so you do. Once you do, that column is what you PIVOT on (put it between FOR and IN in the pivot block).
Oh, and if you provide data in a usable format people might run your query and give you directly usable results, it's a lot to ask to have people enter your data to get to help you so meet them half way. A link to sqlfiddle is ideal, but even just a bunch of DECLARE #T1 and INSERT INTO T1 VALUES statements is usually enough to get significantly better help.
EDIT:
Nice job with the Fiddle!
OK, so using your data, we can test out actual queries. For PIVOT to work, we need a column to look up (employee name), a column to aggregate (activity_details), and some columns that will be constant across the rows produced (the project's name and ID). You're working with text not numbers, so your aggregation can't be mathematical, leaving you with pretty much just MAX or MIN. To make sure you get the right (newest) one, I first built a table of comments and numbered them by how new they were, then I picked just the newest comment for each (project, user) pair. cteCommentNewest is the result of that.
Now with a clean (and verified) table to pivot, the actual pivot syntax is simple. Well, as simple as Pivot can be, it's inherently pretty confusing IMHO, but structuring it this way keeps the actual PIVOT as clean as possible.
Note that the query is in twice, I tested it as a static query before converting it to dynamic because it's much easier to troubleshoot a static query, then I left it in in case you want to experiment with it. You don't need it for the final solution to work.
Here's the final code, fully tested and producing the specified output:
DECLARE #cols3 AS NVARCHAR(MAX)
DECLARE #query3 AS NVARCHAR(MAX)=''
DECLARE #dt varchar(100)='14/04/2021'
select #cols3 = STUFF((SELECT ',' + QUOTENAME(employee_name)
from dbo.HRM_EMP_MST_EMPLOYEE
order by employee_name
FOR XML PATH(''), TYPE
).value('.', 'NVARCHAR(MAX)')
,1,1,'')
--SELECT #cols3 --Test column list for dynamic query
--Test the core functions of pivot before making dynamic
;with cteCommentsAll as (
SELECT P.project_code , P.project_name, C.activity_details , E.employee_name
, ROW_NUMBER () over (PARTITION BY P.project_code , E.employee_name ORDER BY C.transaction_date DESC) as Newness
FROM dbo.PRJ_MST_PROJECT as P --Projects
LEFT OUTER JOIN dbo.PRJ_TNS_DAILY_SUMMARY as C --Comments on projects
ON P.pk_prj_project_id = C.fk_prj_project_id --Get all projects, then all comments for each project
LEFT OUTER JOIN dbo.HRM_EMP_MST_EMPLOYEE as E --Employees who commented
on E.pk_hrm_emp_employee_id = C.fk_hrm_emp_employee_id
), cteCommentsNewest as (
SELECT project_code , project_name, activity_details , employee_name
FROM cteCommentsAll WHERE Newness = 1 --Only one comment per user per project of CROSS problems
)
SELECT *
FROM cteCommentsNewest as N --TEST up to this point to see the raw table
PIVOT (MAX(activity_details) FOR employee_name IN (A, B, C) ) as P
--Put the working query, modified for dynamic columns, into a variable
set #query3 = N'
;with cteCommentsAll as (
SELECT P.project_code , P.project_name, C.activity_details , E.employee_name
, ROW_NUMBER () over (PARTITION BY P.project_code , E.employee_name ORDER BY C.transaction_date DESC) as Newness
FROM dbo.PRJ_MST_PROJECT as P --Projects
LEFT OUTER JOIN dbo.PRJ_TNS_DAILY_SUMMARY as C --Comments on projects
ON P.pk_prj_project_id = C.fk_prj_project_id --Get all projects, then all comments for each project
LEFT OUTER JOIN dbo.HRM_EMP_MST_EMPLOYEE as E --Employees who commented
on E.pk_hrm_emp_employee_id = C.fk_hrm_emp_employee_id
), cteCommentsNewest as (
SELECT project_code , project_name, activity_details , employee_name
FROM cteCommentsAll WHERE Newness = 1 --Only one comment per user per project of CROSS problems
)SELECT *
FROM cteCommentsNewest as N
PIVOT (MAX(activity_details) FOR employee_name IN (' + #cols3 + ') ) as P
'
exec sp_executesql #query3
which produces the following output
project_code
project_name
A
B
C
MOA20171
Project A
some remark By Employee A on 14
NULL
some remark By Employee C on 14
MOA20172
Project B
NULL
NULL
some remark By Employee C on 15
MOA20173
Project C
NULL
NULL
NULL