SQL Server JOIN/APPLY Query

Question

What join should I use to get my desired output base on dummy table below

DETAIL TABLE

x------------------------------x
| empID | empName | date       |
x------------------------------x
| 1     | emp1    | 10/01/2016 |
| 1     | emp1    | 10/03/2016 |
| 1     | emp1    | 10/04/2016 |
| 1     | emp1    | 10/05/2016 |
| 1     | emp1    | 10/06/2016 |
x------------------------------x

LIST DATES FROM 10/01/2016 to 10/15/2016 OF TABLE

x------------x
| date       |
x------------x
| 10/01/2016 |
| 10/02/2016 |
| .......... |
| .......... |
| 10/15/2016 |
x------------x

Desired output for my query

x------------------------------x
| empID | empName | date       |
x------------------------------x
| 1     | emp1    | 10/01/2016 |
| null  | null    | 10/02/2016 |
| 1     | emp1    | 10/03/2016 |
| 1     | emp1    | 10/04/2016 |
| 1     | emp1    | 10/05/2016 |
| 1     | emp1    | 10/06/2016 |
| null  | null    | 10/07/2016 |
| null  | null    | 10/08/2016 |
| null  | null    | 10/09/2016 |
| null  | null    | 10/10/2016 |
| null  | null    | 10/11/2016 |
| null  | null    | 10/12/2016 |
| null  | null    | 10/13/2016 |
| null  | null    | 10/14/2016 |
| null  | null    | 10/15/2016 |
x------------------------------x

Answer 1

Answer is OUTER JOIN it can be either LEFT or RIGHT depending on where you are using the detail table.

SELECT D.empid, 
       D.empname, 
       LD.[date] 
FROM   detail D 
       RIGHT OUTER JOIN list_dates LD 
                     ON D.[date] = LD.[date] 

Also you can use OUTER APPLY

SELECT D.empid, 
       D.empname, 
       LD.[date] 
FROM   list_dates LD 
       OUTER apply (SELECT * 
                    FROM   detail D 
                    WHERE  D.[date] = LD.[date]) D 

Answer 2

Looks like you just need an outer join:

select e.empid, e.empname, d.date
from dates d 
   left join detail e on d.date = e.date

• A Visual Explanation of SQL Joins