How to ORDER BY Alphanumeric values in SQL specific columns - sql

Question

create table Employee(id int, Registration_no varchar(50),Name varchar(50))
insert into #Employee values(1,'DLW/TTC/19/3','RAMESH')
insert into #Employee values(2,'DLW/TTC/19/2','RAJEEV')
insert into #Employee values(3,'DLW/TTC/19/1','RUPAK')
insert into #Employee values(4,'DLW/TTC/19/4','RAMLAAL')
insert into #Employee values(5,'DLW/TTC/19/8','RITESH')
insert into #Employee values(6,'DLW/TTC/19/6','HRITIK')
insert into #Employee values(7,'DLW/TTC/19/9','ROSHAN')
insert into #Employee values(8,'DLW/TTC/19/7','RUPALI')
insert into #Employee values(9,'DLW/TTC/19/5','SHRISTI')
insert into #Employee values(10,'DLW/TTC/19/10','ROSHNI')
select * from Employee
Hello I have the table given above.
Actually am facing problem while am trying to order this table's column (Registration_no)
So kindly help me to ORDER it according to its (Registration_no) column
Its not matter that how the other columns are arranged. I just want my Registration_no column to be arranged in the specific order like this
Registration_no
DLW/TTC/19/1
DLW/TTC/19/2
DLW/TTC/19/3
DLW/TTC/19/4
DLW/TTC/19/5
DLW/TTC/19/6
DLW/TTC/19/7
DLW/TTC/19/8
DLW/TTC/19/9
DLW/TTC/19/10

Answer 1

This will sort by the digits to the right of the last / in the Registration_No string. I'm only including the SortColumn in the result set so you can see the values. You can omit it from your query.
SELECT
e.*,
CAST(RIGHT(e.Registration_no,CHARINDEX('/',REVERSE(e.Registration_no))-1) AS INTEGER) AS SortColumn
FROM #Employee AS e
ORDER BY
CAST(RIGHT(e.Registration_no,CHARINDEX('/',REVERSE(e.Registration_no))-1) AS INTEGER)
Results:
+----+-----------------+---------+------------+
| id | Registration_no | Name | SortColumn |
+----+-----------------+---------+------------+
| 3 | DLW/TTC/19/1 | RUPAK | 1 |
| 2 | DLW/TTC/19/2 | RAJEEV | 2 |
| 1 | DLW/TTC/19/3 | RAMESH | 3 |
| 4 | DLW/TTC/19/4 | RAMLAAL | 4 |
| 9 | DLW/TTC/19/5 | SHRISTI | 5 |
| 6 | DLW/TTC/19/6 | HRITIK | 6 |
| 8 | DLW/TTC/19/7 | RUPALI | 7 |
| 5 | DLW/TTC/19/8 | RITESH | 8 |
| 7 | DLW/TTC/19/9 | ROSHAN | 9 |
| 10 | DLW/TTC/19/10 | ROSHNI | 10 |
+----+-----------------+---------+------------+
The SortColumn functions first REVERSE the string, then use CHARINDEX to find the position from the end of the string of the last occurrence of /, then take that number -1 from the right side of the original column (-1 to exclude the / itself).

Answer 2

You can use reverse function together with charindex function
SELECT e.*, cast( reverse(substring(reverse(Registration_no),1,
charindex('/',reverse(Registration_no),1) -1 ) ) as int ) as nr
FROM employee e
ORDER BY nr;
Demo
The main principle is extracting the pieces and converting them to a numerical value, such as integer, in the tail part of the string values. It's easier to operate from the beginning with substring function to this extraction provided reverse function is used to make read the string reversely. And in this case we need to determine the position of the first delimiter(/) by contribution of charindex function. All those functions exist since the version 2008.

Answer 3

If the pattern at the end of Registration_no is always like /X or /XX then:
select * from Employee
order by
case left(right(Registration_no, 2), 1)
when '/' then
left(Registration_no, len(Registration_no) - 1) + '0' + right(Registration_no, 1)
else Registration_no
end
See the demo.

Answer 4

Although I dont like the way the number is extracted, this is how it can be done
select cast(substring(registration_no, charindex('/', registration_no, len(registration_no) -3) + 1, 3) as int),
* from Employee
order by 1
I would suggest you order it on the frontend using regex assuming that you are wanting to order it for display purpose.

Answer 5

How about this.
select *
from Employee
order by LEFT(Registration_no,PATINDEX('%[0-9]%',Registration_no)-1)-- alpha sort
, CONVERT(INT,REPLACE(SUBSTRING(Registration_no,PATINDEX('%[0-9]%',Registration_no),PATINDEX('%[0-9]%',Registration_no)),'/', '')) -- number sort

Answer 6

The first thing you'll notice as you try to order by the Registration_no is that it will be ordered alphabetically due to the nature of the string contents of the column of type varchar. So the correct way to do it is to convert the last two parts of the reg no into numbers and use them in an order by clause. (in this case we can use only the last part since the 2nd last is always 19)
Doing a bit of search I found this function 'Parsename' which has a usage in replication scenarios as it splits the SQL object schema name into its forming parts, so we can use it here (as long as the reg no parts doesn't exceed 4 parts "the SQL objects maximum parts")
So this will work in that case in SQL Server (T-SQL):
SELECT *
FROM Employee
order by cast(Parsename(replace(Registration_no,'/','.'),1) as int)
More info here
Thanks

Answer 7

Try this query.
create table #Employee(id int, Registration_no varchar(50),Name varchar(50))
insert into #Employee values(1,'DLW/TTC/19/3','RAMESH')
insert into #Employee values(2,'DLW/TTC/19/2','RAJEEV')
insert into #Employee values(3,'DLW/TTC/19/1','RUPAK')
insert into #Employee values(4,'DLW/TTC/19/4','RAMLAAL')
insert into #Employee values(5,'DLW/TTC/19/8','RITESH')
insert into #Employee values(6,'DLW/TTC/19/6','HRITIK')
insert into #Employee values(7,'DLW/TTC/19/9','ROSHAN')
insert into #Employee values(8,'DLW/TTC/19/7','RUPALI')
insert into #Employee values(9,'DLW/TTC/19/5','SHRISTI')
insert into #Employee values(10,'DLW/TTC/19/10','ROSHNI')
select * from #Employee
order by Registration_no
id Registration_no Name
----------- -------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------------
3 DLW/TTC/19/1 RUPAK
10 DLW/TTC/19/10 ROSHNI
2 DLW/TTC/19/2 RAJEEV
1 DLW/TTC/19/3 RAMESH
4 DLW/TTC/19/4 RAMLAAL
9 DLW/TTC/19/5 SHRISTI
6 DLW/TTC/19/6 HRITIK
8 DLW/TTC/19/7 RUPALI
5 DLW/TTC/19/8 RITESH
7 DLW/TTC/19/9 ROSHAN