SQL Server FOR EACH Loop

Question

I have the following SQL query:

DECLARE @MyVar datetime = '1/1/2010'    
SELECT @MyVar

This naturally returns '1/1/2010'.

What I want to do is have a list of dates, say:

1/1/2010
2/1/2010
3/1/2010
4/1/2010
5/1/2010

Then i want to FOR EACH through the numbers and run the SQL Query.

Something like (pseudocode):

List = 1/1/2010,2/1/2010,3/1/2010,4/1/2010,5/1/2010

For each x in List
do
  DECLARE @MyVar datetime = x

  SELECT @MyVar

So this would return:-

1/1/2010 2/1/2010 3/1/2010 4/1/2010 5/1/2010

I want this to return the data as one resultset, not multiple resultsets, so I may need to use some kind of union at the end of the query, so each iteration of the loop unions onto the next.

edit

I have a large query that accepts a 'to date' parameter, I need to run it 24 times, each time with a specific to date which I need to be able to supply (these dates are going to be dynamic) I want to avoid repeating my query 24 times with union alls joining them as if I need to come back and add additional columns it would be very time consuming.

Answer 1

SQL is primarily a set-orientated language - it's generally a bad idea to use a loop in it.

In this case, a similar result could be achieved using a recursive CTE:

with cte as
(select 1 i union all
 select i+1 i from cte where i < 5)
select dateadd(d, i-1, '2010-01-01') from cte

Answer 2

Here is an option with a table variable:

DECLARE @MyVar TABLE(Val DATETIME)
DECLARE @I INT, @StartDate DATETIME
SET @I = 1
SET @StartDate = '20100101'

WHILE @I <= 5
BEGIN
    INSERT INTO @MyVar(Val)
    VALUES(@StartDate)

    SET @StartDate = DATEADD(DAY,1,@StartDate)
    SET @I = @I + 1
END
SELECT *
FROM @MyVar

You can do the same with a temp table:

CREATE TABLE #MyVar(Val DATETIME)
DECLARE @I INT, @StartDate DATETIME
SET @I = 1
SET @StartDate = '20100101'

WHILE @I <= 5
BEGIN
    INSERT INTO #MyVar(Val)
    VALUES(@StartDate)

    SET @StartDate = DATEADD(DAY,1,@StartDate)
    SET @I = @I + 1
END
SELECT *
FROM #MyVar

You should tell us what is your main goal, as was said by @JohnFx, this could probably be done another (more efficient) way.

Answer 3

You could use a variable table, like this:

declare @num int

set @num = 1

declare @results table ( val int )

while (@num < 6)
begin
  insert into @results ( val ) values ( @num )
  set @num = @num + 1
end

select val from @results

Answer 4

This kind of depends on what you want to do with the results. If you're just after the numbers, a set-based option would be a numbers table - which comes in handy for all sorts of things.

For MSSQL 2005+, you can use a recursive CTE to generate a numbers table inline:

;WITH Numbers (N) AS (
    SELECT 1 UNION ALL
    SELECT 1 + N FROM Numbers WHERE N < 500 
)
SELECT N FROM Numbers
OPTION (MAXRECURSION 500)

Answer 5

declare @counter as int
set @counter = 0
declare @date as varchar(50)
set @date = cast(1+@counter as varchar)+'/01/2013'
while(@counter < 12)
begin 
select  cast(1+@counter as varchar)+'/01/2013' as date
set @counter = @counter + 1
end

Answer 6

Off course an old question. But I have a simple solution where no need of Looping, CTE, Table variables etc.

DECLARE @MyVar datetime = '1/1/2010'    
SELECT @MyVar

SELECT DATEADD (DD,NUMBER,@MyVar) 
FROM master.dbo.spt_values 
WHERE TYPE='P' AND NUMBER BETWEEN 0 AND 4 
ORDER BY NUMBER

Note : spt_values is a Mircrosoft's undocumented table. It has numbers for every type. Its not suggestible to use as it can be removed in any new versions of sql server without prior information, since it is undocumented. But we can use it as quick workaround in some scenario's like above.

Answer 7

[CREATE PROCEDURE [rat].[GetYear]

AS
BEGIN

-- variable for storing start date
Declare @StartYear as int
-- Variable for the End date 
Declare @EndYear as int 

-- Setting the value in strat Date
select @StartYear = Value from   rat.Configuration where Name = 'REPORT_START_YEAR'; 

-- Setting the End date 
select @EndYear = Value from   rat.Configuration where Name = 'REPORT_END_YEAR'; 


-- Creating Tem table 
    with [Years] as
    (
        --Selecting the Year
        select @StartYear [Year] 
        --doing Union 
        union all
         -- doing the loop in Years table 
         select Year+1 Year from [Years] where Year < @EndYear
     )
    --Selecting the Year table 
selec]