TSQL While Loop over months in year - sql-server

Question

I have an output that I need to achieve and I am not too certain how to go about it.
I first need to start by looping over each month in the year and using that month in a select statement to check for data.
For example:
Select * from table where MONTH(A.[submissionDate]) = 1
Select * from table where MONTH(A.[submissionDate]) = 2
Select * from table where MONTH(A.[submissionDate]) = 3
My end result is to create this XML output to use with a chart plugin. It needs to include the months even if there is no data which is why I wanted to loop through each month to check for it.
<root>
<dataSet>
<areaDesc>Area 1</areaDesc>
<data>
<month>January</month>
<monthValue>1</monthValue>
<submissions>0</submissions>
</data>
<data>
<month>February</month>
<monthValue>2</monthValue>
<submissions>7</submissions>
</data>
<data>
<month>March</month>
<monthValue>3</monthValue>
<submissions>5</submissions>
</data>
</dataSet>
<dataSet>
<areaDesc>Area 2</areaDesc>
<data>
<month>January</month>
<monthValue>1</monthValue>
<submissions>0</submissions>
</data>
<data>
<month>February</month>
<monthValue>2</monthValue>
<submissions>7</submissions>
</data>
<data>
<month>March</month>
<monthValue>3</monthValue>
<submissions>5</submissions>
</data>
</dataSet>
</root>
I may be way over thinking this but I'm hoping I talking it through may help me out a little.
Here is my current set up of how I get some other stats:
--Temp table
DECLARE #areas TABLE (
area VARCHAR (100));
IF #dept = 'global'
OR #dept = ''
BEGIN
INSERT INTO #areas (area)
SELECT DISTINCT(AreaDesc)
FROM dbo.EmpTable;
END
ELSE
BEGIN
INSERT INTO #areas
SELECT #dept;
END
IF (#action = 'compare')
BEGIN
SELECT DATENAME(month, A.[submissionDate]) AS [month],
MONTH(A.[submissionDate]) AS [monthValue],
count(A.[submissionID]) AS submissions,
B.[AreaDesc]
FROM empowermentSubmissions AS A
INNER JOIN empTable AS B
ON A.[nomineeQID] = B.[QID]
WHERE YEAR(A.[submissionDate]) = #year
AND A.[statusID] = 3
AND A.[locationID] IN (SELECT location
FROM #table)
GROUP BY DATENAME(month, A.[submissionDate]), MONTH(A.[submissionDate]), B.[AreaDesc]
ORDER BY [monthValue] ASC
FOR XML PATH ('dataSet'), TYPE, ELEMENTS, ROOT ('root');
END
ELSE

Answer 1

This is a great application for a "Dates" table or view. Create a new table in your database with schema like:
CREATE TABLE dbo.Dates (
Month INT,
MonthName VARCHAR(20)
)
Populate this table with the years and months you may want to aggregate over. Then, you can make your query like:
SELECT
Area
Dates.MonthName,
COUNT(*) AS Count
FROM
dbo.Dates
LEFT OUTER JOIN
dbo.Submissions
AND Dates.Month = MONTH(Submissions.SubmissionDate)
GROUP BY
Dates.MonthName,
Area
The LEFT OUTER JOIN will give you one row for every Year and Month in the dates table, and a count of any submissions on that month. You end up with output like:
Area | MonthName | Count
Area 1 | Jan | 0
Area 2 | Feb | 2
&c.

Answer 2

You'll want to do a FOR XML structure to get the exact result set you're looking for in one go, I think. I put this together with what I could glean about your XML. Just change the name of the table variable here to your real table name and this should work.
EDIT: changed up the query to match the definition from the posted query. Updated the data element where clause to maintain month instantiation when zero counts were found in a month.
EDIT: Added Status requirement.
EDIT: Moved areaDesc criteria for constant month output.
declare #empowermentSubmissions table (submissionID int primary key identity(1,1), submissionDate datetime, nomineeQID INT, statusID INT)
declare #empTable table (QID int primary key identity(1,1), AreaDesc varchar(10))
declare #n int = 1
while #n < 50
begin
insert into #empTable (AreaDesc) values ('Area ' + cast((#n % 2)+1 as varchar(1)))
set #n = #n + 1
end
set #n = 1
while #n < 500
begin
insert into #empowermentSubmissions (submissionDate, nomineeQID, StatusID) values (dateadd(dd,-(cast(rand()*600 as int)),getdate()), (select top 1 QID from #empTable order by newid()), 3 + (#n % 2) - (#n % 3) )
set #n = #n + 1
end
declare #year int = 2014
select (
select (
select (
select e1.areaDesc
from #empTable e1
where e1.areaDesc = e2.areaDesc
group by e1.areaDesc
for xml path(''),type
)
, (
select [month], [monthValue], count(s1.submissionID) as submissions
from (
select #year [Year]
, datename(month,dateadd(mm,RowID-1,#year-1900)) [Month]
, month(dateadd(mm,RowID-1,#year-1900)) [MonthValue]
from (
select *, row_number()over(order by name) as RowID
from master..spt_values
) d
where d.RowID <= 12
) t
left join (
select s3.submissionID, s3.submissionDate, e3.AreaDesc
from #empowermentSubmissions s3
inner join #empTable e3 on s3.nomineeQID = e3.QID
where s3.statusID = 3
and e3.areaDesc = e2.areaDesc
) s1 on year(s1.submissionDate) = t.[Year]
and month(s1.submissionDate) = t.[MonthValue]
group by [Month], [MonthValue]
order by [MonthValue]
for xml path('data'),type
)
for xml path(''),type
) dataset
from #empowermentSubmissions s2
inner join #empTable e2 on s2.nomineeQID = e2.QID
group by e2.areaDesc
for xml path(''), type
) root
for xml path (''), type

Answer 3

You should be able to use a tally table to get the months:
SELECT TOP 12 IDENTITY(INT,1,1) AS N
INTO #tally
FROM master.dbo.syscolumns sc1
SELECT DATENAME(MONTH,DATEADD(MONTH,t.N-1,'2014-01-01')) AS namemonth, t.N AS monthvalue, COUNT(tbl.submissionDate) AS submissions, tbl.Area
FROM #tally t
LEFT OUTER JOIN tbl ON MONTH(tbl.submissionDate) = t.N
GROUP BY t.n, tbl.Area
DROP TABLE #tally