Dynamic pivot multiple columns - sql-server

Question

I have a table with results like this:
EMP_ID | Boss_ID | Boss_Name | Specialty
1001 001 John sql
1001 001 John c#
1002 002 James c++
1002 003 Sarah sql
1002 003 Sarah python
1003 004 Jesse networking
Employees can have multiple bosses which can have multiple specialties.
I need to dynamically pivot the data so that I have one line per employee. I need to display the employee, all the bosses they have and just their line 1 specialty.
I am able to use dynamic pivot and display the multiple bosses part but I am unsure of how to display their specialty next to their name.
Here is what I have:
DECLARE #cols AS NVARCHAR(max)
,#query AS NVARCHAR(max)
select t.EMP_ID
,t.Boss_Name
,t.Boss_ID
,t.Specialty
,'BOSS' + '_' + cast(ROW_NUMBER() OVER (PARTITION BY t.EMP_ID ORDER BY t.BOSS_ID asc) AS VARCHAR) AS b_rn
,'SPEC' + '_' + cast(ROW_NUMBER() OVER (PARTITION BY t.Specialty ORDER BY t.BOSS_ID asc) AS VARCHAR) AS spec_rn
INTO #work
from #testing t
SELECT #cols = STUFF(
(SELECT DISTINCT TOP 100 PERCENT '],[' + w.b_rn
FROM #work w
ORDER BY '],[' + w.b_rn
FOR XML PATH('')
), 1, 2, ''
) + ']'
PRINT #cols
SET #query = N' SELECT EMP_ID,' + #cols + N'
INTO ##work_results FROM
(
SELECT EMP_ID
,Boss_Name
,b_rn
FROM #work
) AS sourcetable
PIVOT
(
max(Boss_Name) for b_rn IN ('+ #cols + N')
) AS pivot_table'
execute(#query)
select * from ##work_results
This gives me:
EMP_ID | BOSS_1 | BOSS_2 | BOSS_3
1001 John John NULL
1002 James Sarah Sarah
1003 Jesse NULL NULL
What I am really looking for is results like this:
EMP_ID | Boss_1 | Specialty_1 | Boss_2 | Specialty_1
1001 John sql
1002 James c++ Sarah sql
1003 Jesse networking
I have looked at other posts but they aren't quite what I am looking for.
Any help would be wonderful.
Thanks!

Answer 1

You might go this way:
The trick is, to concatenate your values. Therefore only one column, no problem with pivot...
DECLARE #tbl TABLE(EMP_ID INT,Boss_ID INT,Boss_Name VARCHAR(100),Specialty VARCHAR(100));
INSERT INTO #tbl VALUES
(1001,001,'John','sql')
,(1001,001,'John','c#')
,(1002,002,'James','c++')
,(1002,003,'Sarah','sql')
,(1002,003,'Sarah','python')
,(1003,004,'Jesse','networking');
SELECT p.*
FROM
(
SELECT tbl.EMP_ID
--If you need your Bosses in the given order you must add a sort crit to your original table!
,'Column_' + CAST(ROW_NUMBER() OVER(PARTITION BY tbl.EMP_ID ORDER BY tbl.EMP_ID) AS VARCHAR(MAX)) AS ColumnName
,tbl.Boss_Name + ' (' + tbl.Specialty + ')' AS Concatenated
FROM #tbl AS tbl
) AS ToBePivoted
PIVOT
(
MIN(Concatenated) FOR ColumnName IN(Column_1,Column_2,Column_3 /*add maximum here*/)
) As p
The result
1001 John (sql) John (c#) NULL
1002 James (c++) Sarah (sql) Sarah (python)
1003 Jesse (networking) NULL NULL
If you need the values separated another trick is, to concatenate all needed columns in XML-format (but not XML-Type!).
As the concatenation is XML-Format it is quite easy to extract the elements just via their index.
DECLARE #tbl TABLE(EMP_ID INT,Boss_ID INT,Boss_Name VARCHAR(100),Specialty VARCHAR(100));
INSERT INTO #tbl VALUES
(1001,001,'John','sql')
,(1001,001,'John','c#')
,(1002,002,'James','c++')
,(1002,003,'Sarah','sql')
,(1002,003,'Sarah','python')
,(1003,004,'Jesse','networking');
SELECT p.EMP_ID
,CAST(Column_1 AS XML).value('x[1]','int') AS BossID_1
,CAST(Column_1 AS XML).value('x[2]','varchar(max)') AS BossName_1
,CAST(Column_1 AS XML).value('x[3]','varchar(max)') AS specialty_1
,CAST(Column_2 AS XML).value('x[1]','int') AS BossID_2
,CAST(Column_2 AS XML).value('x[2]','varchar(max)') AS BossName_2
,CAST(Column_2 AS XML).value('x[3]','varchar(max)') AS specialty_2
,CAST(Column_3 AS XML).value('x[1]','int') AS BossID_3
,CAST(Column_3 AS XML).value('x[2]','varchar(max)') AS BossName_3
,CAST(Column_3 AS XML).value('x[3]','varchar(max)') AS specialty_3
/*Add a maximum here*/
FROM
(
SELECT tbl.EMP_ID
--If you need your Bosses in the given order you must add a sort crit to your original table!
,'Column_' + CAST(ROW_NUMBER() OVER(PARTITION BY tbl.EMP_ID ORDER BY tbl.EMP_ID) AS VARCHAR(MAX)) AS ColumnName
,'<x>' + CAST(tbl.Boss_ID AS VARCHAR(10)) + '</x><x>' + tbl.Boss_Name + '</x><x>' + tbl.Specialty + '</x>' AS ValuesAsXML
FROM #tbl AS tbl
) AS ToBePivoted
PIVOT
(
MIN(ValuesAsXML) FOR ColumnName IN(Column_1,Column_2,Column_3 /*add maximum here*/)
) As p
The result
1001 1 John sql 1 John c# NULL NULL NULL
1002 2 James c++ 3 Sarah sql 3 Sarah python
1003 4 Jesse networking NULL NULL NULL NULL NULL NULL