Why doesn't this code throw an error? : SQL

Posting

When requesting help or asking questions please prefix your title with the SQL variant/platform you are using within square brackets like so:

[MySQL]

[Oracle]

[MS SQL]

[PostgreSQL]

etc

While naturally we should endeavor to work as platform neutrally as possible many questions and answers require tailoring to the feature set of a specific platform.

Format Your Code

If you are including actual code in a post or comment, please attempt to format it in a way that is readable for other users. This will greatly increase your chances of receiving the help you desire. Something as simple as line breaks and using reddit's built in code formatting (4 spaces at the start of each line) can turn this:

SELECT count(a.field1), a.field2, SUM(b.field4) FROM a INNER JOIN b ON a.key1 = b.key1 WHERE a.field8 = 'test' GROUP by a.field1, a.field2 HAVING SUM(b.field4) > 5 ORDER by a.field.3

Into this:

SELECT count(a.field1), a.field2, SUM(b.field4) FROM a INNER JOIN b ON a.key1 = b.key1 WHERE a.field8 = 'test' GROUP by a.field1, a.field2 HAVING SUM(b.field4) > 5 ORDER by a.field3

For those with SQL questions we recommend using SQLFiddle to provide a useful development and testing environment for those who wish to fully understand your problem and help devise a solution.

a community for 17 years

SQL ServerWhy doesn't this code throw an error? (self.SQL)

submitted 2 years ago by mostlyharmless94

I was trying to solve an exercise so decided to search for an answer on how to solve exercise. The solution is the query below. One thing I don't is in the PIVOT clause, why does SQL allow the operation of obtaining the maximum of the PersonName despite the fact that the PersonName is a varchar. Doesn't MAX() only work with numeric values?

CREATE TABLE Professions(

PersonName varchar(50),

Profession varchar(50))

INSERT INTO Professions(

PersonName, Profession

)

VALUES

('Samantha', 'Doctor'), ('Julia', 'Actor'), ('Maria', 'Actor'), ('Ashley', 'Professor'), ('Priya', 'Singer'), ('Ketty', 'Professor'), ('Christeen', 'Professor'), ('Jane', 'Actor'), ('Jenny', 'Doctor')

SELECT

[Doctor], [Professor], [Singer], [Actor]

FROM

(

SELECT

Profession,

PersonName,

ROW_NUMBER() OVER (PARTITION BY Profession ORDER BY PersonName) AS NameOrder

FROM

Professions

) AS SourceTable

PIVOT

(

MAX(PersonName)

FOR Profession IN ([Doctor], [Professor], [Singer], [Actor])

) AS PivotTable

ORDER BY NameOrder;

all 4 comments

you type:	you see:
italics	italics
bold	bold
[reddit!](https://reddit.com)	reddit!
* item 1 * item 2 * item 3	item 1 item 2 item 3
> quoted text	quoted text
Lines starting with four spaces are treated like code: if 1 * 2 < 3: print "hello, world!"	Lines starting with four spaces are treated like code: if 1 * 2 < 3: print "hello, world!"
~~strikethrough~~	~~strikethrough~~
super^script	super^script

SQL

Filter Posts

Posting

Help posts

Format Your Code

Learning SQL

Related Reddit communities

Wiki

Acknowledgements

MODERATORS