SQL Max Consecutive Values in a number set using recursion - sql

Question

The following SQL query is supposed to return the max consecutive numbers in a set.
WITH RECURSIVE Mystery(X,Y) AS (SELECT A AS X, A AS Y FROM R)
UNION (SELECT m1.X, m2.Y
FROM Mystery m1, Mystery m2
WHERE m2.X = m1.Y + 1)
SELECT MAX(Y-X) + 1 FROM Mystery;
This query on the set {7, 9, 10, 14, 15, 16, 18} returns 3, because {14 15 16} is the longest chain of consecutive numbers and there are three numbers in that chain. But when I try to work through this manually I don't see how it arrives at that result.
For example, given the number set above I could create two columns:
m1.x
m2.y
7
7
9
9
10
10
14
14
15
15
16
16
18
18
If we are working on rows and columns, not the actual data, as I understand it WHERE m2.X = m1.Y + 1 takes the value from the next row in Y and puts it in the current row of X, like so
m1.X
m2.Y
9
7
10
9
14
10
15
14
16
15
18
16
18
Null?
The main part on which I am uncertain is where in the SQL recursion actually happens. According to Denis Lukichev recursion is the R part - or in this case the RECURSIVE Mystery(X,Y) - and stops when the table is empty. But if the above is true, how would the table ever empty?
Since I don't know how to proceed with the above, let me try a different direction. If WHERE m2.X = m1.Y + 1 is actually a comparison, the result should be:
m1.X
m2.Y
14
14
15
15
16
16
But at this point, it seems that it should continue recursively on this until only two rows are left (nothing else to compare). If it stops here to get the correct count of 3 rows (2 + 1), what is actually stopping the recursion?
I understand that for the above example the MAX(Y-X) + 1 effectively returns the actual number of recursion steps and adds 1.
But if I have 7 consecutive numbers and the recursion flows down to 2 rows, should this not end up with an incorrect 3 as the result? I understand recursion in C++ and other languages, but this is confusing to me.
Full disclosure, yes it appears this is a common university question, but I am retired, discovered this while researching recursion for my use, and need to understand how it works to use similar recursion in my projects.

Answer 1

Based on this db<>fiddle shared previously, you may find it instructive to alter the CTE to include an iteration number as follows, and then to show the content of the CTE rather than the output of final SELECT. Here's an amended CTE and its content after the recursion is complete:
Amended CTE
WITH RECURSIVE Mystery(X,Y) AS ((SELECT A AS X, A AS Y, 1 as Z FROM R)
UNION (SELECT m1.X, m2.A, Z+1
FROM Mystery m1
JOIN R m2 ON m2.A = m1.Y + 1))
CTE Content
x
y
z
7
7
1
9
9
1
10
10
1
14
14
1
15
15
1
16
16
1
18
18
1
9
10
2
14
15
2
15
16
2
14
16
3
The Z field holds the iteration count. Where Z = 1 we've simply got the rows from the table R. The, values X and Y are both from the field A. In terms of what we are attempting to achieve these represent sequences consecutive numbers, which start at X and continue to (at least) Y.
Where Z = 2, the second iteration, we find all the rows first iteration where there is a value in R which is one higher than our Y value, or one higher than the last member of our sequence of consecutive numbers. That becomes the new highest number, and we add one to the number of iterations. As only three numbers in our original data set have successors within the set, there are only three rows output in the second iteration.
Where Z = 3, the third iteration, we find all the rows of the second iteration (note we are not considering all the rows of the first iteration again), where there is, again, a value in R which is one higher than our Y value, or one higher than the last member of our sequence of consecutive numbers. That, again, becomes the new highest number, and we add one to the number of iterations.
The process will attempt a fourth iteration, but as there are no rows in R where the value is one more than the Y values from our third iteration, no extra data gets added to the CTE and recursion ends.
Going back to the original db<>fiddle, the process then searches our CTE content to output MAX(Y-X) + 1, which is the maximum difference between the first and last values in any consecutive sequence, plus one. This finds it's value from the record produced in the third iteration, using ((16-14) + 1) which has a value of 3.
For this specific piece of code, the output is always equivalent to the value in the Z field as every addition of a row through the recursion adds one to Z and adds one to Y.