MS Access using variables to unpivot 100+ columns - ms-access

Question

I have a pivot table that looks like this (the table layout cannot be changed) with 200 columns to be unpivoted (the fieldnames are indeed numbers)
Template | Row | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | ...| 200
abc | 1 | 5 | 4 | | | |
abc | 2 | | 45| | | |
abc | 3 | | 35| | | |
The table should look like this:
Template | row | column | value |
abc | 1 | 1 | 5 |
abc | 1 | 2 | 4 |
abc | 2 | 1 | |
abc | 2 | 2 | 45 |
with 200 columns to be unpivoted, I can't fathom creating a SQL statement with 200 UNION ALLs, so I figured I will loop an insert into by using a variable.
The difficulty I am having is that I don't know how to use the variable both as a value as well as a fieldname.
In Pseudo-SQL my query would look like this:
Insert Into TheDestination (Template, Row, Column, Value) Select Template,
Row, $x as column, TheTable.$x from TheTable
where X would increase by 1 for each iteration.
This is what I came up with, but I am getting a syntax error. What is the correct statement? Do I need to use a 2nd variable?
Private Sub Unpivot_Click()
Dim x As Integer
Dim columncount As Integer
Dim setRST As DAO.Recordset
Dim sqlstr As String
Set setRST = CurrentDb.OpenRecordset("Select * from TheTable")
columncount = setRST.Fields.Count
While Not setRST.EOF
For x = 1 To columncount
CurrentDb.Execute "Insert Into TheDestination VALUES (Template, Rownumber,
Columnnumber, Result) Select Template, row, "&x&" as column, "&x&" from
TheTable"
Next x
Wend
End Sub
Thank you in advance!

Answer 1

Your INSERT INTO statement looks really weird, and it appears like you're not assigning the right values.
Using a querydef and parameters avoids problems with string concatenation, and minimizes some assignments.
Try the following:
Private Sub Unpivot_Click()
Dim x As Integer
Dim columncount As Integer
Dim setRST As DAO.Recordset
Dim sqlstr As String
Dim qdf As DAO.QueryDef
Dim fld As DAO.Field
Set setRST = CurrentDb.OpenRecordset("Select * from TheTable")
columncount = setRST.Fields.Count
Set qdf = db.CreateQueryDef ("", "Insert Into TheDestination ([Template], [Row],
[Column], [Result]) VALUES (#Template, #RowNumber, #ColumnNumber, #Result)")
Do While Not setRST.EOF
qdf.Parameters("#Template") = setRST!Template
qdf.Parameters("#RowNumber") = setRST!row
For Each fld In setRST.Fields
If IsNumeric(fld.Name) Then
qdf.Parameters("#ColumnNumber") = fld.Name
qdf.Parameters("#Result") = fld.Value
qdf.Execute
End If
Next fld
setRST.MoveNext
Loop
End Sub