SQL Server partition function by specific key values not range values

Question

I don't know if this is even possible but we are looking to create a partition function in SQL Server 2008 that would allow us to partition a table on a state abbreviation key column (i.e. 'FL','AZ',.. etc). In essence we would have 50 partitions. I understand that the way partition functions are setup is through left or right values but that is not what we need so was wondering if our scenario would be possible. Thanks everybody.

Answer 1

Ranges should work quite ok for the problem, as long as there is a single state per range. This can be achieved using a LEFT range with the values listed in alphabetical order.

If required, you could also add a check constraint to limit the values to valid state names;

CREATE PARTITION FUNCTION bop (CHAR(2)) AS
  RANGE LEFT FOR VALUES('AK', 'AL', 'AR', 'AZ', ...)
END;