Increment an alias in dynamic sql select statement

Question

I am trying to create a dynamic SQL statement that includes an alias that has to increment. My query is like

DECLARE @q varchar(255)
SET @q = '0'
SELECT 'SELECT (SELECT DISTINCT NameColumn 
FROM NAMETABLE) @q' 
FROM NameTable

Where for each record in nametable @q changes. So it would go @q = 0 for record 1, @q = 1 for record 2, @q = 2 for record 3, etc. I found ROW_NUMBER but that appears to only do incrementing a column and as an Int whereas I need a varchar to increment. If someone had an idea as to how to do this or could point me in the right direction that would be wonderful

Answer 1

Is this what you want?

SELECT 'SELECT (SELECT DISTINCT NameColumn 
                FROM NAMETABLE
              ) ' + cast(row_number() over (order by (select NULL)) as varchar(255))
FROM NameTable;

I am, however, unclear on why you would want an alias to be a number.

EDIT:

To get what you want, just pre-pend the number with a letter.

SELECT 'SELECT (SELECT DISTINCT NameColumn 
                FROM NAMETABLE
              ) t' + cast(row_number() over (order by (select NULL)) as varchar(255))
FROM NameTable;