Question

I have 2 tables that are similar but not the same so a union is not a possibility. I need to combine the tables bearing in mind there’s about 40 columns where only 20 are common to both. Any ideas on the best approach?

Table1

ActivityCategory    ActivityType   Nationality   Language
---------------------------------------------------------
Communication       Telephone      French        French
Meeting             Session        British       English


Table2

ActivityCategory    ActivityType   Nationality   Employment
-----------------------------------------------------------
Communication       Fax            American      Employed


Combined Table

ActivityCategory    ActivityType   Nationality   Language   Employment
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Communication       Telephone      French        French
Meeting             Session        British       English
Communication       Fax            American                 Employed

Answer 1

Do a UNION but first you have to make the tables same in structure.

In the SELECT for Table1, add Employment as a NULL value column

In the SELECT for Table2, add Language as a NULL value column

SELECT ActivityCategory, ActivityType, Nationality, Language, NULL AS Employment
FROM Table1
UNION
SELECT ActivityCategory, ActivityType, Nationality, NULL AS Language, Employment
FROM Table1