Question

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

How can I do it?

Answer 1

Columns are not independent of their row — sort order applies to the whole row, not to individual columns. All data within a row is understood to be related — you cannot individually slice/dice/rearrange data that violates this.

You can’t do what you want to do in the current structure you have.