WITH common_table_expression (Transact-SQL)

**APPLIES TO:** ![yes](media/yes.png)SQL Server (starting with 2008) ![yes](media/yes.png)Azure SQL Database ![yes](media/yes.png)Azure SQL Data Warehouse ![yes](media/yes.png)Parallel Data Warehouse

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Specifies a temporary named result set, known as a common table expression (CTE). This is derived from a simple query and defined within the execution scope of a single SELECT, INSERT, UPDATE, or DELETE statement. This clause can also be used in a CREATE VIEW statement as part of its defining SELECT statement. A common table expression can include references to itself. This is referred to as a recursive common table expression.

Topic link icon Transact-SQL Syntax Conventions

Syntax

[ WITH <common_table_expression> [ ,...n ] ]  
  
<common_table_expression>::=  
    expression_name [ ( column_name [ ,...n ] ) ]  
    AS  
    ( CTE_query_definition )  

Arguments

expression_name
Is a valid identifier for the common table expression. expression_name must be different from the name of any other common table expression defined in the same WITH <common_table_expression> clause, but expression_name can be the same as the name of a base table or view. Any reference to expression_name in the query uses the common table expression and not the base object.

column_name
Specifies a column name in the common table expression. Duplicate names within a single CTE definition are not allowed. The number of column names specified must match the number of columns in the result set of the CTE_query_definition. The list of column names is optional only if distinct names for all resulting columns are supplied in the query definition.

CTE_query_definition
Specifies a SELECT statement whose result set populates the common table expression. The SELECT statement for CTE_query_definition must meet the same requirements as for creating a view, except a CTE cannot define another CTE. For more information, see the Remarks section and CREATE VIEW (Transact-SQL).

If more than one CTE_query_definition is defined, the query definitions must be joined by one of these set operators: UNION ALL, UNION, EXCEPT, or INTERSECT.

Remarks

Guidelines for Creating and Using Common Table Expressions

The following guidelines apply to nonrecursive common table expressions. For guidelines that apply to recursive common table expressions, see “Guidelines for Defining and Using Recursive Common Table Expressions” that follows.

Guidelines for Defining and Using Recursive Common Table Expressions

The following guidelines apply to defining a recursive common table expression:

The following guidelines apply to using a recursive common table expression:

Features and Limitations of Common Table Expressions in [!INCLUDEssSDW] and [!INCLUDEssPDW]

The current implementation of CTEs in SQL Data Warehouse and SQL Data Warehouse Parallel Data Warehouse have the following features and limitations:

Examples

A. Creating a simple common table expression

The following example shows the total number of sales orders per year for each sales representative at Adventure Works Cycles

  
-- Define the CTE expression name and column list.  
WITH Sales_CTE (SalesPersonID, SalesOrderID, SalesYear)  
AS  
-- Define the CTE query.  
(  
    SELECT SalesPersonID, SalesOrderID, YEAR(OrderDate) AS SalesYear  
    FROM Sales.SalesOrderHeader  
    WHERE SalesPersonID IS NOT NULL  
)  
-- Define the outer query referencing the CTE name.  
SELECT SalesPersonID, COUNT(SalesOrderID) AS TotalSales, SalesYear  
FROM Sales_CTE  
GROUP BY SalesYear, SalesPersonID  
ORDER BY SalesPersonID, SalesYear;  
GO  
  

B. Using a common table expression to limit counts and report averages

The following example shows the average number of sales orders for all years for the sales representatives.

WITH Sales_CTE (SalesPersonID, NumberOfOrders)  
AS  
(  
    SELECT SalesPersonID, COUNT(*)  
    FROM Sales.SalesOrderHeader  
    WHERE SalesPersonID IS NOT NULL  
    GROUP BY SalesPersonID  
)  
SELECT AVG(NumberOfOrders) AS "Average Sales Per Person"  
FROM Sales_CTE;  
GO  

C. Using multiple CTE definitions in a single query

The following example shows how to define more than one CTE in a single query. Notice that a comma is used to separate the CTE query definitions. The FORMAT function, used to display the monetary amounts in a currency format, is available in SQL Server 2012 and higher.

  
WITH Sales_CTE (SalesPersonID, TotalSales, SalesYear)  
AS  
-- Define the first CTE query.  
(  
    SELECT SalesPersonID, SUM(TotalDue) AS TotalSales, YEAR(OrderDate) AS SalesYear  
    FROM Sales.SalesOrderHeader  
    WHERE SalesPersonID IS NOT NULL  
       GROUP BY SalesPersonID, YEAR(OrderDate)  
  
)  
,   -- Use a comma to separate multiple CTE definitions.  
  
-- Define the second CTE query, which returns sales quota data by year for each sales person.  
Sales_Quota_CTE (BusinessEntityID, SalesQuota, SalesQuotaYear)  
AS  
(  
       SELECT BusinessEntityID, SUM(SalesQuota)AS SalesQuota, YEAR(QuotaDate) AS SalesQuotaYear  
       FROM Sales.SalesPersonQuotaHistory  
       GROUP BY BusinessEntityID, YEAR(QuotaDate)  
)  
  
-- Define the outer query by referencing columns from both CTEs.  
SELECT SalesPersonID  
  , SalesYear  
  , FORMAT(TotalSales,'C','en-us') AS TotalSales  
  , SalesQuotaYear  
  , FORMAT (SalesQuota,'C','en-us') AS SalesQuota  
  , FORMAT (TotalSales -SalesQuota, 'C','en-us') AS Amt_Above_or_Below_Quota  
FROM Sales_CTE  
JOIN Sales_Quota_CTE ON Sales_Quota_CTE.BusinessEntityID = Sales_CTE.SalesPersonID  
                    AND Sales_CTE.SalesYear = Sales_Quota_CTE.SalesQuotaYear  
ORDER BY SalesPersonID, SalesYear;  
GO  
  

Here is a partial result set.

  
SalesPersonID SalesYear   TotalSales    SalesQuotaYear SalesQuota  Amt_Above_or_Below_Quota  
------------- ---------   -----------   -------------- ---------- ----------------------------------   
  
274           2005        $32,567.92    2005           $35,000.00  ($2,432.08)  
274           2006        $406,620.07   2006           $455,000.00 ($48,379.93)  
274           2007        $515,622.91   2007           $544,000.00 ($28,377.09)  
274           2008        $281,123.55   2008           $271,000.00  $10,123.55  
  

D. Using a recursive common table expression to display multiple levels of recursion

The following example shows the hierarchical list of managers and the employees who report to them. The example begins by creating and populating the dbo.MyEmployees table.

-- Create an Employee table.  
CREATE TABLE dbo.MyEmployees  
(  
EmployeeID smallint NOT NULL,  
FirstName nvarchar(30)  NOT NULL,  
LastName  nvarchar(40) NOT NULL,  
Title nvarchar(50) NOT NULL,  
DeptID smallint NOT NULL,  
ManagerID int NULL,  
 CONSTRAINT PK_EmployeeID PRIMARY KEY CLUSTERED (EmployeeID ASC)   
);  
-- Populate the table with values.  
INSERT INTO dbo.MyEmployees VALUES   
 (1, N'Ken', N'Sánchez', N'Chief Executive Officer',16,NULL)  
,(273, N'Brian', N'Welcker', N'Vice President of Sales',3,1)  
,(274, N'Stephen', N'Jiang', N'North American Sales Manager',3,273)  
,(275, N'Michael', N'Blythe', N'Sales Representative',3,274)  
,(276, N'Linda', N'Mitchell', N'Sales Representative',3,274)  
,(285, N'Syed', N'Abbas', N'Pacific Sales Manager',3,273)  
,(286, N'Lynn', N'Tsoflias', N'Sales Representative',3,285)  
,(16,  N'David',N'Bradley', N'Marketing Manager', 4, 273)  
,(23,  N'Mary', N'Gibson', N'Marketing Specialist', 4, 16);  
USE AdventureWorks2012;  
GO  
WITH DirectReports(ManagerID, EmployeeID, Title, EmployeeLevel) AS   
(  
    SELECT ManagerID, EmployeeID, Title, 0 AS EmployeeLevel  
    FROM dbo.MyEmployees   
    WHERE ManagerID IS NULL  
    UNION ALL  
    SELECT e.ManagerID, e.EmployeeID, e.Title, EmployeeLevel + 1  
    FROM dbo.MyEmployees AS e  
        INNER JOIN DirectReports AS d  
        ON e.ManagerID = d.EmployeeID   
)  
SELECT ManagerID, EmployeeID, Title, EmployeeLevel   
FROM DirectReports  
ORDER BY ManagerID;  
GO  

E. Using a recursive common table expression to display two levels of recursion

The following example shows managers and the employees reporting to them. The number of levels returned is limited to two.

USE AdventureWorks2012;  
GO  
WITH DirectReports(ManagerID, EmployeeID, Title, EmployeeLevel) AS   
(  
    SELECT ManagerID, EmployeeID, Title, 0 AS EmployeeLevel  
    FROM dbo.MyEmployees   
    WHERE ManagerID IS NULL  
    UNION ALL  
    SELECT e.ManagerID, e.EmployeeID, e.Title, EmployeeLevel + 1  
    FROM dbo.MyEmployees AS e  
        INNER JOIN DirectReports AS d  
        ON e.ManagerID = d.EmployeeID   
)  
SELECT ManagerID, EmployeeID, Title, EmployeeLevel   
FROM DirectReports  
WHERE EmployeeLevel <= 2 ;  
GO  
  

F. Using a recursive common table expression to display a hierarchical list

The following example builds on Example D by adding the names of the manager and employees, and their respective titles. The hierarchy of managers and employees is additionally emphasized by indenting each level.

USE AdventureWorks2012;  
GO  
WITH DirectReports(Name, Title, EmployeeID, EmployeeLevel, Sort)  
AS (SELECT CONVERT(varchar(255), e.FirstName + ' ' + e.LastName),  
        e.Title,  
        e.EmployeeID,  
        1,  
        CONVERT(varchar(255), e.FirstName + ' ' + e.LastName)  
    FROM dbo.MyEmployees AS e  
    WHERE e.ManagerID IS NULL  
    UNION ALL  
    SELECT CONVERT(varchar(255), REPLICATE ('|    ' , EmployeeLevel) +  
        e.FirstName + ' ' + e.LastName),  
        e.Title,  
        e.EmployeeID,  
        EmployeeLevel + 1,  
        CONVERT (varchar(255), RTRIM(Sort) + '|    ' + FirstName + ' ' +   
                 LastName)  
    FROM dbo.MyEmployees AS e  
    JOIN DirectReports AS d ON e.ManagerID = d.EmployeeID  
    )  
SELECT EmployeeID, Name, Title, EmployeeLevel  
FROM DirectReports   
ORDER BY Sort;  
GO  

G. Using MAXRECURSION to cancel a statement

MAXRECURSION can be used to prevent a poorly formed recursive CTE from entering into an infinite loop. The following example intentionally creates an infinite loop and uses the MAXRECURSION hint to limit the number of recursion levels to two.

USE AdventureWorks2012;  
GO  
--Creates an infinite loop  
WITH cte (EmployeeID, ManagerID, Title) as  
(  
    SELECT EmployeeID, ManagerID, Title  
    FROM dbo.MyEmployees  
    WHERE ManagerID IS NOT NULL  
  UNION ALL  
    SELECT cte.EmployeeID, cte.ManagerID, cte.Title  
    FROM cte   
    JOIN  dbo.MyEmployees AS e   
        ON cte.ManagerID = e.EmployeeID  
)  
--Uses MAXRECURSION to limit the recursive levels to 2  
SELECT EmployeeID, ManagerID, Title  
FROM cte  
OPTION (MAXRECURSION 2);  
GO  

After the coding error is corrected, MAXRECURSION is no longer required. The following example shows the corrected code.

USE AdventureWorks2012;  
GO  
WITH cte (EmployeeID, ManagerID, Title)  
AS  
(  
    SELECT EmployeeID, ManagerID, Title  
    FROM dbo.MyEmployees  
    WHERE ManagerID IS NOT NULL  
  UNION ALL  
    SELECT  e.EmployeeID, e.ManagerID, e.Title  
    FROM dbo.MyEmployees AS e  
    JOIN cte ON e.ManagerID = cte.EmployeeID  
)  
SELECT EmployeeID, ManagerID, Title  
FROM cte;  
GO  

H. Using a common table expression to selectively step through a recursive relationship in a SELECT statement

The following example shows the hierarchy of product assemblies and components that are required to build the bicycle for ProductAssemblyID = 800.

USE AdventureWorks2012;  
GO  
WITH Parts(AssemblyID, ComponentID, PerAssemblyQty, EndDate, ComponentLevel) AS  
(  
    SELECT b.ProductAssemblyID, b.ComponentID, b.PerAssemblyQty,  
        b.EndDate, 0 AS ComponentLevel  
    FROM Production.BillOfMaterials AS b  
    WHERE b.ProductAssemblyID = 800  
          AND b.EndDate IS NULL  
    UNION ALL  
    SELECT bom.ProductAssemblyID, bom.ComponentID, p.PerAssemblyQty,  
        bom.EndDate, ComponentLevel + 1  
    FROM Production.BillOfMaterials AS bom   
        INNER JOIN Parts AS p  
        ON bom.ProductAssemblyID = p.ComponentID  
        AND bom.EndDate IS NULL  
)  
SELECT AssemblyID, ComponentID, Name, PerAssemblyQty, EndDate,  
        ComponentLevel   
FROM Parts AS p  
    INNER JOIN Production.Product AS pr  
    ON p.ComponentID = pr.ProductID  
ORDER BY ComponentLevel, AssemblyID, ComponentID;  
GO  

I. Using a recursive CTE in an UPDATE statement

The following example updates the PerAssemblyQty value for all parts that are used to build the product ‘Road-550-W Yellow, 44’ (ProductAssemblyID``800). The common table expression returns a hierarchical list of parts that are used to build ProductAssemblyID 800 and the components that are used to create those parts, and so on. Only the rows returned by the common table expression are modified.

USE AdventureWorks2012;  
GO  
WITH Parts(AssemblyID, ComponentID, PerAssemblyQty, EndDate, ComponentLevel) AS  
(  
    SELECT b.ProductAssemblyID, b.ComponentID, b.PerAssemblyQty,  
        b.EndDate, 0 AS ComponentLevel  
    FROM Production.BillOfMaterials AS b  
    WHERE b.ProductAssemblyID = 800  
          AND b.EndDate IS NULL  
    UNION ALL  
    SELECT bom.ProductAssemblyID, bom.ComponentID, p.PerAssemblyQty,  
        bom.EndDate, ComponentLevel + 1  
    FROM Production.BillOfMaterials AS bom   
        INNER JOIN Parts AS p  
        ON bom.ProductAssemblyID = p.ComponentID  
        AND bom.EndDate IS NULL  
)  
UPDATE Production.BillOfMaterials  
SET PerAssemblyQty = c.PerAssemblyQty * 2  
FROM Production.BillOfMaterials AS c  
JOIN Parts AS d ON c.ProductAssemblyID = d.AssemblyID  
WHERE d.ComponentLevel = 0;  

J. Using multiple anchor and recursive members

The following example uses multiple anchor and recursive members to return all the ancestors of a specified person. A table is created and values inserted to establish the family genealogy returned by the recursive CTE.

-- Genealogy table  
IF OBJECT_ID('dbo.Person','U') IS NOT NULL DROP TABLE dbo.Person;  
GO  
CREATE TABLE dbo.Person(ID int, Name varchar(30), Mother int, Father int);  
GO  
INSERT dbo.Person   
VALUES(1, 'Sue', NULL, NULL)  
      ,(2, 'Ed', NULL, NULL)  
      ,(3, 'Emma', 1, 2)  
      ,(4, 'Jack', 1, 2)  
      ,(5, 'Jane', NULL, NULL)  
      ,(6, 'Bonnie', 5, 4)  
      ,(7, 'Bill', 5, 4);  
GO  
-- Create the recursive CTE to find all of Bonnie's ancestors.  
WITH Generation (ID) AS  
(  
-- First anchor member returns Bonnie's mother.  
    SELECT Mother   
    FROM dbo.Person  
    WHERE Name = 'Bonnie'  
UNION  
-- Second anchor member returns Bonnie's father.  
    SELECT Father   
    FROM dbo.Person  
    WHERE Name = 'Bonnie'  
UNION ALL  
-- First recursive member returns male ancestors of the previous generation.  
    SELECT Person.Father  
    FROM Generation, Person  
    WHERE Generation.ID=Person.ID  
UNION ALL  
-- Second recursive member returns female ancestors of the previous generation.  
    SELECT Person.Mother  
    FROM Generation, dbo.Person  
    WHERE Generation.ID=Person.ID  
)  
SELECT Person.ID, Person.Name, Person.Mother, Person.Father  
FROM Generation, dbo.Person  
WHERE Generation.ID = Person.ID;  
GO  

K. Using analytical functions in a recursive CTE

The following example shows a pitfall that can occur when using an analytical or aggregate function in the recursive part of a CTE.

DECLARE @t1 TABLE (itmID int, itmIDComp int);  
INSERT @t1 VALUES (1,10), (2,10);   
  
DECLARE @t2 TABLE (itmID int, itmIDComp int);   
INSERT @t2 VALUES (3,10), (4,10);   
  
WITH vw AS  
 (  
    SELECT itmIDComp, itmID  
    FROM @t1  
  
    UNION ALL  
  
    SELECT itmIDComp, itmID  
    FROM @t2  
)   
,r AS  
 (  
    SELECT t.itmID AS itmIDComp  
           , NULL AS itmID  
           ,CAST(0 AS bigint) AS N  
           ,1 AS Lvl  
    FROM (SELECT 1 UNION ALL SELECT 2 UNION ALL SELECT 3 UNION ALL SELECT 4) AS t (itmID)   
  
UNION ALL  
  
SELECT t.itmIDComp  
    , t.itmID  
    , ROW_NUMBER() OVER(PARTITION BY t.itmIDComp ORDER BY t.itmIDComp, t.itmID) AS N  
    , Lvl + 1  
FROM r   
    JOIN vw AS t ON t.itmID = r.itmIDComp  
)   
  
SELECT Lvl, N FROM r;  

The following results are the expected results for the query.

Lvl  N  
1    0  
1    0  
1    0  
1    0  
2    4  
2    3  
2    2  
2    1  

The following results are the actual results for the query.

Lvl  N  
1    0  
1    0  
1    0  
1    0  
2    1  
2    1  
2    1  
2    1  

N returns 1 for each pass of the recursive part of the CTE because only the subset of data for that recursion level is passed to ROWNUMBER. For each of the iterations of the recursive part of the query, only one row is passed to ROWNUMBER.

Examples: [!INCLUDEssSDW] and [!INCLUDEssPDW]

L. Using a common table expression within a CTAS statement

The following example creates a new table containing the total number of sales orders per year for each sales representative at Adventure Works Cycles

-- Uses AdventureWorks  
  
CREATE TABLE SalesOrdersPerYear  
WITH  
(  
    DISTRIBUTION = HASH(SalesPersonID)  
)  
AS  
    -- Define the CTE expression name and column list.  
    WITH Sales_CTE (SalesPersonID, SalesOrderID, SalesYear)  
    AS  
    -- Define the CTE query.  
    (  
        SELECT SalesPersonID, SalesOrderID, YEAR(OrderDate) AS SalesYear  
        FROM Sales.SalesOrderHeader  
        WHERE SalesPersonID IS NOT NULL  
    )  
    -- Define the outer query referencing the CTE name.  
    SELECT SalesPersonID, COUNT(SalesOrderID) AS TotalSales, SalesYear  
    FROM Sales_CTE  
    GROUP BY SalesYear, SalesPersonID  
    ORDER BY SalesPersonID, SalesYear;  
GO  

M. Using a common table expression within a CETAS statement

The following example creates a new external table containing the total number of sales orders per year for each sales representative at Adventure Works Cycles

-- Uses AdventureWorks  
  
CREATE EXTERNAL TABLE SalesOrdersPerYear  
WITH  
(  
    LOCATION = 'hdfs://xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx:5000/files/Customer',  
    FORMAT_OPTIONS ( FIELD_TERMINATOR = '|' )   
)  
AS  
    -- Define the CTE expression name and column list.  
    WITH Sales_CTE (SalesPersonID, SalesOrderID, SalesYear)  
    AS  
    -- Define the CTE query.  
    (  
        SELECT SalesPersonID, SalesOrderID, YEAR(OrderDate) AS SalesYear  
        FROM Sales.SalesOrderHeader  
        WHERE SalesPersonID IS NOT NULL  
    )  
    -- Define the outer query referencing the CTE name.  
    SELECT SalesPersonID, COUNT(SalesOrderID) AS TotalSales, SalesYear  
    FROM Sales_CTE  
    GROUP BY SalesYear, SalesPersonID  
    ORDER BY SalesPersonID, SalesYear;  
GO  

N. Using multiple comma separated CTEs in a statement

The following example demonstrates including two CTEs in a single statement. The CTEs cannot be nested (no recursion).

WITH   
 CountDate (TotalCount, TableName) AS  
    (  
     SELECT COUNT(datekey), 'DimDate' FROM DimDate  
    ) ,  
 CountCustomer (TotalAvg, TableName) AS  
    (  
     SELECT COUNT(CustomerKey), 'DimCustomer' FROM DimCustomer  
    )  
SELECT TableName, TotalCount FROM CountDate  
UNION ALL  
SELECT TableName, TotalAvg FROM CountCustomer;  

See Also

CREATE VIEW (Transact-SQL)
DELETE (Transact-SQL)
EXCEPT and INTERSECT (Transact-SQL)
INSERT (Transact-SQL)
SELECT (Transact-SQL)
UPDATE (Transact-SQL)