Question

There are 2 columns containing the same kind of data:

col_a  col_b ...
Bob    Tim   ..
John   Frank .
Bob    John
John   Tim
Bob    Bob
Frank  John

Now the query I want to do is like this (counting occurrences: (Bob, 3), (John,2), .. ):

SELECT col_a, count(*) AS total FROM table1 GROUP BY col_a

But instead of running it on col_a I want to run it on col_a and col_b at the same time ((Bob,4), (John, 4), ..)

Any help is appreciated

edit:
THANKS EVERYONE YOU ARE AWESOME.

Thanks again

Answer 1

Select Z.name, Count(*) As Total
From    (
        Select col_a As name
        From total
        Union All
        Select col_b
        From total
        ) As Z
Group By Z.name