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Editorial Team
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Asked: 2026-05-15T01:09:18+00:00

I have a table which looks like Col1 col2 col3 col4 col5 1 5

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I have a table which looks like

Col1    col2 col3 col4 col5 
1  5       1     4     6 
1  4       0     3     7    
0  1       5     6     3 
1  8       2     1     5 
4  3       2     1     4

The script is 

declare @t table(col1 int, col2 int, col3 int,col4 int,col5 int) 
insert into @t  
select 1,5,1,4,6 union all 
select 1,4,0,3,7 union all 
select 0,1,5,6,3 union all 
select 1,8,2,1,5 union all 
select 4,3,2,1,4

I want the output to be every column being sorted in ascending order i.e.

Col1 col2 col3 col4 col5 
    0  1       0     1     3 
    1  3       1     1     4 
    1  4       2     3     5 
    1  5       2     4     6 
    4  8       5     6     7

I already solved the problem by the folowing program

Select  
    x1.col1
    ,x2.col2
    ,x3.col3
    ,x4.col4
    ,x5.col5 
From (Select Row_Number() Over(Order By col1) rn1, col1 From @t)x1
Join(Select  Row_Number()  Over(Order By col2) rn2, col2 From @t)x2 On x1.rn1=x2.rn2
Join(Select  Row_Number() Over(Order By col3) rn3, col3 From @t)x3 On x1.rn1=x3.rn3
Join(Select  Row_Number() Over(Order By col4) rn4, col4 From @t)x4 On x1.rn1=x4.rn4
Join(Select  Row_Number() Over(Order By col5) rn5, col5 From @t)x5 On x1.rn1=x5.rn5

But I am not happy with this solution.

Is there any better way to achieve the same? (Using set based approach)

If so, could any one please show an example.

Thanks

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1 Answer

  1. Editorial Team

    The sort you’re trying to do will “rip apart” the row that you had before – not something you should do in relational databases….

    E.g. the last line in your original table, you have a tuple (4, 3, 2, 1, 4) – but suddenly, the result you’re looking for, you have a tuple (4, 8, 5, 6, 7).

    This is very odd and contradicts every “usual” way of dealing with data. A RDBMS typically has tuples (rows) of data, and you can sort those by any number of columns – but you cannot suddenly create new tuples after a sort operation. Very weird….

    I would recommend you rethink your entire strategy of doing this – it feels very strange and at odds with any of the usual database principles I know….. what exactly (and why exactly) are you trying to achieve this?? Seems you’re really dealing with a collection of disparate data – so why don’t you put those disparate chunks of data into their own tables, if they really don’t have anything to do with one another??

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