Question

Stupid question, but I couldn’t find the right search for this question and I’m having a mind block. I have a table with keys from a reference table and I want to avoid using a loop to select the records without having duplicates. I need to get Mode 1-5 joined so I can get the names without having duplicates. Please leave comments so I can clarify.

Mode(1-5) are ModeIDs

Example:

Table to Join

ID
Mode1
Mode2
Mode3
Mode4
Mode5

Reference Table

ModeID
ModeName

Answer 1

This is the answer to your question:

SELECT 
    m1.ModeName,
    m2.ModeName,
    m3.ModeName,
    m4.ModeName,
    m5.ModeName
FROM Modes m
LEFT JOIN Ref m1 on m1.ModeID = m.Mode1
LEFT JOIN Ref m2 on m2.ModeID = m.Mode2
LEFT JOIN Ref m3 on m3.ModeID = m.Mode3
LEFT JOIN Ref m4 on m4.ModeID = m.Mode4
LEFT JOIN Ref m5 on m5.ModeID = m.Mode5

But I would suggest that there’s a problem with your DB design. You should be using a join table.