Generate every combination of two sets.
SQL Server: CROSS JOIN creates one result per possible pair, so the output size is the product of the input sizes.
CREATE TABLE sizes (size_name VARCHAR(5));
CREATE TABLE colors (color_name VARCHAR(10));
INSERT INTO sizes VALUES ('M'),('S');
INSERT INTO colors VALUES ('blue'),('red');
SELECT s.size_name,c.color_name FROM sizes s CROSS JOIN colors c ORDER BY s.size_name,c.color_name;Expected output EXAMPLE
M|blue M|red S|blue S|red
Details
Requires SQL Server 2022 or later. Run in an empty scratch database in SSMS or sqlcmd. Result rows below use | between columns, without headers; client display formatting may differ. CROSS JOIN creates one result per possible pair, so the output size is the product of the input sizes. The CREATE and INSERT statements provide all input data. Run the complete example in a fresh scratch database or schema.
Tested on Ubuntu 24.04.5 LTS · · SQL Server 16.0.4295.3 · bash 5.2.21-2ubuntu4; coreutils 9.4-3ubuntu6.3; psycopg 3.2.10; pymssql 2.3.8
Test inputs, results and environment
The exact published code ran in a dedicated Linux test container with prepared inputs. Snippet process uid 65534 with a read-only root filesystem and temporary working files. Database services use a private internal Docker network without published ports. Fresh scratch schema/database for each case; test database administrator credentials are confined to these disposable services. Fixtures and output records are isolated from the application database. Testing covers this example and its stated checks, not every input, operating system, or runtime version. The Linux container shares its host's kernel; this is not a native Windows test.
- Architecture / host kernel
- x86_64 / 6.18.54.1-microsoft-standard-WSL2
- Snippet identity / locale
- uid=65534, gid=65534 (unprivileged process) / C.UTF-8
- Interpreter invocation
Execute the exact SQL in a fresh database/schema; serialize result rows with | separators- Container image ID
sha256:ec91410a8f6ec3e985830b5e3a0560306d36f8c1c5ccd91a6699abe707123fa3- Code SHA-256
499c4a5771535f2f6bec009bc6c83c270fa60a447f558d8f4bcfe70c1b67e1cb- Dependencies
- bash 5.2.21-2ubuntu4; coreutils 9.4-3ubuntu6.3; psycopg 3.2.10; pymssql 2.3.8
Test input setup
These are the prepared inputs used by the test harness. See Details above for the prerequisites and how to run this example.
# No input files required.
Observed standard output
M|blue M|red S|blue S|red
Exit code: 0. Standard error: empty. Validation: Exact stdout comparison. System-dependent values above are one recorded run.