Select rows in sequential

Question

Table name is Items
Field : Item
And only 1 field and is indexed.
Select * from Items will give result as
Item
------
A
B
C
D
E
F
G
H
Need an output like ?i.e sequential
A B C
D E F
G H
and there is only 1 field and an index on it.

Can any one pls tell me how it is possible with sql query?

Answer 1

Could I know why you're looking for a solution for this problem? If you want to display the data on a web page like this, you could have a better choice.

<asp:DataList ID="dlItems" runat="server" RepeatDirection="Horizontal" RepeatLayout="Table" RepeatColumns="3" />


Thanks,
Hooray

Answer 2

try query below

declare @t table (item varchar(3))

insert into @t (item)
select 'A' union
select 'B' union
select 'C' union
select 'D' union
select 'E' union
select 'F' union
select 'G' union
select 'H' union
select 'I' union
select 'J' union
select 'K'

declare @item varchar(100)

set @item = (select e.item as [data()]
           from @t e
         for xml path (''))
        
Set @item = (select REPLACE(@item, ' ',''))

declare @len1 int
declare @len int

set @len =(select COUNT(*) from @t)/3   
set @len1 = 0

declare @t2 table (item varchar(3))

while (@len > =0)
begin
   
    insert into @t2 (item)
    select SUBSTRING(@item, @len1*3+1 ,3)
   
set @len1 = @len1+1
set @len = @len -1
End

select * from @t2

---

Best Regards,
Melissa Suciadi

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