In some cases, you may want to produce a result set with specified column names and values without querying an actual table. This is often used for testing purposes, documentation, or even when preparing expected structures for applications that expect specific column headers. Here’s how to do it effectively.

Sample Query: Returning Named Columns Without a Table

To illustrate this, let’s say you want to display columns for Relationship_Officers, Employee_Efficiency, Local_Staff_Count, and Extra_Info. You can use the SELECT statement to create these columns and add sample values or placeholders.

SELECT 
    'Relationship_Officers' AS Relationship_Officers,
    'Employee_Efficiency' AS Employee_Efficiency,
    'Local_Staff_Count' AS Local_Staff_Count,
    NULL AS Extra_Info  -- This column can serve as an additional placeholder

Explanation of the Query

1. Column Names: The AS keyword allows you to rename each value as a specific column. Here we’re simulating four columns, each with a unique name.
2. Text Values: To return literal text values, such as "Relationship_Officers", wrap them in single quotes ('). This indicates that the text should appear as the output rather than being interpreted as a column identifier.
3. NULL Values: The NULL keyword is useful for placeholders or when you don’t want to specify a value for a column. In this case, Extra_Info will be an empty column in the output.

Expected Output

This query returns a single row with four columns:

Relationship_Officers	Employee_Efficiency	Local_Staff_Count	Extra_Info
Relationship_Officers	Employee_Efficiency	Local_Staff_Count	(null)

Customizing the Query

If you want specific data in the columns, replace the placeholders with values of your choice:

SELECT 
    'Manager' AS Relationship_Officers,
    '85%' AS Employee_Efficiency,
    50 AS Local_Staff_Count,
    'Data Not Available' AS Extra_Info

With this approach, you can simulate a variety of data outputs in SQL without referencing an existing table. This is particularly useful in environments where testing data structures or preparing specific headers is required.