How to select columns from a table which have non null values ?

Question

I have a table containing hundreds of columns many of which are null, and I would like have my select statement so that only those columns containing a value are returned. It would help me analyze data better. Something like:

Select (non null columns) from tablename;

I want to select all columns which are not-nullable for all rows.

Can this be done?

Answer 1

I don't think this can be done in a single query. You may need some plsql to first test what columns contain data and put together a statement based on that information. Of course, if the data in your table changes you have to recreate the statement.

declare

   l_table          varchar2(30) := 'YOUR_TABLE';
   l_statement      varchar2(32767);
   l_test_statement varchar2(32767);

   l_contains_value pls_integer;

   -- select column_names from your table
   cursor c is
      select column_name
            ,nullable
        from user_tab_columns
       where table_name = l_table;

begin
   l_statement := 'select ';
   for r in c
   loop
      -- If column is not nullable it will always contain a value
      if r.nullable = 'N'
      then
         -- add column to select list.
         l_statement := l_statement || r.column_name || ',';
      else
         -- check if there is a row that has a value for this column
         begin
            l_test_statement := 'select 1 from dual where exists (select 1 from ' || l_table || ' where ' ||
                                r.column_name || ' is not null)';
            dbms_output.put_line(l_test_statement);
            execute immediate l_test_statement
               into l_contains_value;


            -- Yes, add column to select list
            l_statement := l_statement || r.column_name || ',';
         exception
            when no_data_found then
               null;
         end;

      end if;
   end loop;

   -- create a select statement
   l_statement := substr(l_statement, 1, length(l_statement) - 1) || ' from ' || l_table;

end;

Answer 2

What you're asking to do is establish a dependency on each row in the whole result. This is in fact not ever what you want. Just think of the ramifications if in one row every column had a value of '0' -- suddenly the schema of your result set grows to include all of those previously "empty" columns. You're effectively growing the badness of '*' exponentially, now your result set is not dependent on just the table's meta-data -- but your whole result set is dependent on the plain data.

What you want to do is just select the fields that have what you want, and not deviate from this simple plan.

Answer 3

Have a look as statistics information, it may be useful for you:

SQL> exec dbms_stats.gather_table_stats('SCOTT','EMP');

PL/SQL procedure successfully completed.

SQL> select num_rows from all_tables where owner='SCOTT' and table_name='EMP';

  NUM_ROWS
----------
        14

SQL> select column_name,nullable,num_distinct,num_nulls from all_tab_columns
  2  where owner='SCOTT' and table_name='EMP' order by column_id;

COLUMN_NAME                    N NUM_DISTINCT  NUM_NULLS
------------------------------ - ------------ ----------
EMPNO                          N           14          0
ENAME                          Y           14          0
JOB                            Y            5          0
MGR                            Y            6          1
HIREDATE                       Y           13          0
SAL                            Y           12          0
COMM                           Y            4         10
DEPTNO                         Y            3          0

8 rows selected.

For example you can check if NUM_NULLS = NUM_ROWS to identify "empty" columns.
Reference: ALL_TAB_COLUMNS, ALL_TABLES.