tsql - SQL Server - Include NULL using UNPIVOT

Question

UNPIVOT will not return NULLs, but I need them in a comparison query. I am trying to avoid using ISNULL the following example (Because in the real sql there are over 100 fields):

Select ID, theValue, column_name
From 
(select ID,
  ISNULL(CAST([TheColumnToCompare]  AS VarChar(1000)), '') as TheColumnToCompare
  from MyView
  where The_Date = '04/30/2009'
) MA
UNPIVOT
   (theValue FOR column_name IN 
   ([TheColumnToCompare])
) AS unpvt

Any alternatives?

Answer 1

To preserve NULLs, use CROSS JOIN ... CASE:

select a.ID, b.column_name
, column_value = 
    case b.column_name
      when 'col1' then a.col1
      when 'col2' then a.col2
      when 'col3' then a.col3
      when 'col4' then a.col4
    end
from (
  select ID, col1, col2, col3, col4 
  from table1
  ) a
cross join (
  select 'col1' union all
  select 'col2' union all
  select 'col3' union all
  select 'col4'
  ) b (column_name)

Instead of:

select ID, column_name, column_value
From (
  select ID, col1, col2, col3, col4
  from table1
  ) a
unpivot (
  column_value FOR column_name IN (
    col1, col2, col3, col4)
  ) b

A text editor with column mode makes such queries easier to write. UltraEdit has it, so does Emacs. In Emacs it's called rectangular edit.

You might need to script it for 100 columns.