PIVOT:

The PIVOT function in SQL is used to transform data by rotating unique values in one column into
multiple columns. This can be particularly helpful for generating reports, summarizing data, or
presenting data in a more organized manner. Here are examples with different use cases to
demonstrate the flexibility and utility of PIVOT.

Syntax:
SELECT <columns>
FROM (
SELECT <columns>
FROM <table_name>
) AS SourceTable
PIVOT (
<aggregate_function>(<column_to_aggregate>)
FOR <column_with_unique_values> IN (<column_value1>,
<column_value2>, ...)
) AS PivotTable;
Summary of When to Use Each Aggregation in PIVOT:
• SUM(): Total values across categories (e.g., total sales, total quantity).
• AVG(): Average values across categories (e.g., average score, average sale price).
• MAX(): Maximum value within a category (e.g., highest temperature, peak sale).
• COUNT(): Count occurrences or records in categories (e.g., number of complaints, frequency
of attendance).
Example 01: Sales Data by Month (Basic PIVOT Example)
Suppose you have a Sales table that records sales for different products each month:

Product Month Sales

Apples January 150
Apples February 200
Oranges January 100
Oranges February 180

Goal: Pivot the Month column values into separate columns so that each month becomes a column with
the corresponding sales data for each product.

SELECT Product, [January], [February]

FROM (
SELECT Product, Month, Sales
FROM Sales
) AS SourceTable
PIVOT (
SUM(Sales) FOR Month IN ([January], [February])
) AS PivotTable;

Product January February

Apples 150 200
Oranges 100 180

This example shows how to pivot data by turning the Month column values into columns and
aggregating the Sales values using SUM.
Example 02: Employee Attendance by Day (Aggregation)
Consider a table called Attendance that records whether employees attended each day of the week:
EmployeeID Day Present
101 Monday 1
101 Tuesday 1
102 Monday 0
102 Tuesday 1

Goal: Transform the Day values into columns to get a weekly attendance summary for each employee.

SELECT EmployeeID, [Monday], [Tuesday]

FROM (
SELECT EmployeeID, Day, Present
FROM Attendance
) AS SourceTable
PIVOT (
MAX(Present) FOR Day IN ([Monday], [Tuesday])
) AS PivotTable;

EmployeeID Monday Tuesday

101 1 1
102 0 1

In this case, the MAX function is used to get the Present status (0 or 1) for each day.
Example 03: Exam Scores by Subject (Pivoting with Multiple
Aggregates)
Suppose you have an ExamScores table:
Student Subject Score
Alice Math 85
Alice Science 90
Bob Math 88
Bob Science 92

Goal: Show each student's scores for each subject as separate columns.
SELECT Student, [Math], [Science]
FROM (
SELECT Student, Subject, Score
FROM ExamScores
) AS SourceTable
PIVOT (
AVG(Score) FOR Subject IN ([Math], [Science])
) AS PivotTable;
Student Math Science
Alice 85 90
Bob 88 92

In this example, AVG is used in case there were multiple scores per student in a subject.
Example 04: Product Orders by Quarter(Data Across Periods)
A table Orders contains the quantity of products ordered each quarter:
Product Quarter Quantity
Laptop Q1 100
Laptop Q2 150
Tablet Q1 200
Tablet Q2 50

Goal: Display total quantities ordered for each product by quarter.

SELECT Product, [Q1], [Q2]

FROM (
SELECT Product, Quarter, Quantity
FROM Orders
) AS SourceTable
PIVOT (
SUM(Quantity) FOR Quarter IN ([Q1], [Q2])
) AS PivotTable;
Product Q1 Q2
Laptop 100 150
Tablet 200 50

Here, SUM is used to add up the Quantity of each product ordered in each quarter.
Example 05: Counting Records by Category (Pivot for Count)
Suppose you have a table Complaints where you log complaints by type and resolution status:

ComplaintID Type Resolved

1 Billing Yes
2 Service No
3 Billing Yes
4 Service Yes

Goal: Count the number of complaints for each type by resolution status.
SELECT Type, [Yes] AS Resolved, [No] AS Unresolved
FROM (
SELECT Type, Resolved
FROM Complaints
) AS SourceTable
PIVOT (
COUNT(ComplaintID) FOR Resolved IN ([Yes], [No])
) AS PivotTable;

Type Resolved Unresolved

Billing 2 0
Service 1 1

This example shows how PIVOT can be used to count records based on categories.
UNPIVOT:
The UNPIVOT operator in SQL is the opposite of PIVOT—it transforms columns into rows, making it
useful for restructuring data that has been pivoted or for simplifying columnar data into a more
normalized form.

Syntax:
SELECT <columns>
FROM (
SELECT <columns>
FROM <table_name>
) AS SourceTable
UNPIVOT (
<column_with_values> FOR <new_column_name> IN (<columns_to_unpivot>)
) AS UnpivotTable;

Here's how the components work:

<columns>: Columns you want in the final output.

<column_with_values>: The name of the new column where the unpivoted values will be stored.
<new_column_name>: The name of the column that will indicate the original column names.
<columns_to_unpivot>: The list of columns being transformed into rows.
Example 01: Unpivoting Monthly Sales Data
Suppose you have a table named MonthlySales that stores monthly sales in separate columns:
Product January February
Product A 100 150
Product B 200 250
You want to transform the monthly columns into rows, making it easier to analyze sales by month.
SELECT Product, Month, Sales
FROM (
SELECT Product, January, February, March
FROM MonthlySales
) AS SourceTable
UNPIVOT (
Sales FOR Month IN (January, February, March)
) AS UnpivotTable;
Product Month Sales
Product A January 100
Product A February 150
Product B January 200
Product B February 250

Sales FOR Month: The UNPIVOT operator takes values from January, February, and March columns,
putting them under a new column Sales.
Month: This new column (Month) stores the original column names as values (January, February,
March).
Example 02: Unpivoting Survey Data for Easier Analysis
Imagine a table SurveyResponses where each row represents a respondent’s answer to several
questions, with each question as a separate column:
Respondent Q1 Q2 Q3
1 Yes No Yes
2 No Yes No
Analyze responses, unpivot data so each question and response are in separate rows.
SELECT Respondent, Question, Response
FROM (
SELECT Respondent, Q1, Q2, Q3
FROM SurveyResponses
) AS SourceTable
UNPIVOT (
Response FOR Question IN (Q1, Q2, Q3)
) AS UnpivotTable;
Respondent Question Response
1 Q1 Yes
1 Q2 No
1 Q3 Yes
2 Q1 No
2 Q2 Yes
2 Q3 No

Response FOR Question: Moves the values of Q1, Q2, and Q3 columns to a single Response column,
while the new Question column stores the original column names.
Example 03: Converting Financial Data for Budget Analysis
Suppose you have financial data by category and quarter in a table called BudgetData:
Category Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4
Marketing 2000 2500 3000 4000
R&D 3000 3500 4000 5000

To analyze budget allocation per quarter more flexibly, unpivot the quarter columns into rows.
SELECT Category, Quarter, Amount
FROM (
SELECT Category, Q1, Q2, Q3, Q4
FROM BudgetData
) AS SourceTable
UNPIVOT (
Amount FOR Quarter IN (Q1, Q2, Q3, Q4)
) AS UnpivotTable;
Category Quarter Amount
Marketing Q1 2000
Marketing Q2 2500
Marketing Q3 3000
Marketing Q4 4000
R&D Q1 3000
R&D Q2 3500
R&D Q3 4000
R&D Q4 5000
KEY DIFFERENCE BETWEEN PIVOT AND UNPIVOT:
Purpose:
PIVOT: Used to convert rows into columns. It summarizes data by turning unique row values into
new columns, often for better readability or reporting.
UNPIVOT: Used to convert columns into rows, which helps normalize wide tables by flattening data
into a more analyzable structure.

Use Cases:
PIVOT: Typically used in reporting and data visualization scenarios where you want to compare
values across different categories or time periods side by side.
UNPIVOT: Often used in data preparation when data needs to be converted to a long format, making
it easier to aggregate or process in analytics.

Output Structure:
PIVOT: Increases the number of columns and reduces the number of rows. Each unique value in the
pivot column becomes a column header.
UNPIVOT: Reduces the number of columns and increases the number of rows, transforming column
headers into row values.

Performance Consideration:
PIVOT and UNPIVOT operations may have different performance impacts based on the amount of
data and the specific SQL database engine’s optimization capabilities.