Question : Self-join a single table that includes 'parent-child' relation.

Table:
id, name, parent_id, type, hobbies

Example:
1, Tim, , Parent, Fishing and hiking
2, John, 1, Child, Reading and biking
3, Jane, 1, Child, Poker and cooking

From the query result I need to construct this:
{Tim}'s hobbies are {Fishing and hiking}, he's a {Parent}
       {John}, {Tim}'s {Child} likes {Reading and biking}
       {Jane,} {Tim}'s {Child} likes {Poker and cooking}
Continuing parent/child lists...

The kicker is I have no logic available to me except via the SQL (MSSQL, not sure what version). I can issue the statement and then display the results in a single instance of formatted list code. I expect I'll create a stylesheet to handle the indenting of the records based on type (class="Parent", class="Child", etc.). Not sure about other things like getting records into the right sort order to format the list. There are no children that are also parents (thank goodness).

Can I get this to work? Let me know if you need more info.

Answer : Self-join a single table that includes 'parent-child' relation.

Here you go:

create table #Y (id int, name varchar(10), relid int null, rel varchar(10), hobby varchar(100))

insert into #Y values (1, 'Tim', null, 'Parent', 'Fishing and hiking')
insert into #Y values (2, 'John', 1, 'Child', 'Reading and biking')
insert into #Y values (3, 'Jane', 1, 'Child', 'Poker and cooking')

select Y1.name, isnull(Y2.name, ''), Y1.rel, Y1.hobby
from   #Y Y1
left   outer join #Y Y2
on     Y1.relid = Y2.id

-->> result:
name                  rel        hobby
---------- ---------- ---------- --------------------
Tim                   Parent     Fishing and hiking
John       Tim        Child      Reading and biking
Jane       Tim        Child      Poker and cooking


Hope this helps ...