SQL Server: Examples of PIVOTing String data

Question

Trying to find some simple SQL Server PIVOT examples. Most of the examples that I have found involve counting or summing up numbers. I just want to pivot some string data.

Answer 1

Table setup:

CREATE TABLE dbo.tbl (
    action VARCHAR(20) NOT NULL,
    view_edit VARCHAR(20) NOT NULL
);

INSERT INTO dbo.tbl (action, view_edit)
VALUES ('Action1', 'VIEW'),
       ('Action1', 'EDIT'),
       ('Action2', 'VIEW'),
       ('Action3', 'VIEW'),
       ('Action3', 'EDIT');

Your table: SELECT action, view_edit FROM dbo.tbl

Query without using PIVOT:

SELECT Action, 
[View] = (Select view_edit FROM tbl WHERE t.action = action and view_edit = 'VIEW'),
[Edit] = (Select view_edit FROM tbl WHERE t.action = action and view_edit = 'EDIT')
FROM tbl t
GROUP BY Action

Query using PIVOT:

SELECT [Action], [View], [Edit] FROM
(SELECT [Action], view_edit FROM tbl) AS t1 
PIVOT (MAX(view_edit) FOR view_edit IN ([View], [Edit]) ) AS t2

Both queries result: