SQL Pivot on two columns

Question

How can I arrange the following result set

meal_type   menu_item_id
2           111
2           222
2           333
2           444
2           555
3           666
3           777
3           888
3           999

to

2       3
111     666
222     777
333     888
444     999
555

using pivot or unpivot

Answer 1

The problem with your data - no source for group, PIVOT assumes aggregate function If you data are small (it is subject for separate topic :-) ), you can create grouping field, using ROW_NUMBER() function. I assume source table name is "test"

with ordered as (
  select 
  row_number() OVER (PARTITION by meal_type order by menu_item_id) num, 
  * from [test] 
)
select
max(case [meal_type] when 2 then [menu_item_id] end) as [2],
max(case [meal_type] when 3 then [menu_item_id] end)  as [3]
from ordered group by num

Answer 2

You can achieve the result using ROW_NUMBER and PIVOT:

    SELECT  [2] ,
            [3]
     FROM    ( SELECT    * ,
                    ROW_NUMBER() OVER ( PARTITION BY meal_type ORDER BY menu_item_id ) R
          FROM      dbo.Meal
        ) s PIVOT( MAX(menu_item_id) FOR meal_type IN ( [2], [3] ) ) pvt;