SQL Server 2016 Sub Query Guidance - sql

Question

I am currently working on an assignment for my SQL class and I am stuck. I'm not looking for full code to answer the question, just a little nudge in the right direction. If you do provide full code would you mind a small explanation as to why you did it that way (so I can actually learn something.)
Here is the question:
Write a SELECT statement that returns three columns: EmailAddress, ShipmentId, and the order total for each Client. To do this, you can group the result set by the EmailAddress and ShipmentId columns. In addition, you must calculate the order total from the columns in the ShipItems table.
Write a second SELECT statement that uses the first SELECT statement in its FROM clause. The main query should return two columns: the Client’s email address and the largest order for that Client. To do this, you can group the result set by the EmailAddress column.
I am confused on how to pull in the EmailAddress column from the Clients table, as in order to join it I have to bring in other tables that aren't being used. I am assuming there is an easier way to do this using sub Queries as that is what we are working on at the time.

Answer 1

Think of SQL as working with sets of data as opposed to just tables. Tables are merely a set of data. So when you view data this way you immediately see that the query below returns a set of data consisting of the entirety of another set, being a table:
SELECT * FROM MyTable1
Now, if you were to only get the first two columns from MyTable1 you would return a different set that consisted only of columns 1 and 2:
SELECT col1, col2 FROM MyTable1
Now you can treat this second set, a subset of data as a "table" as well and query it like this:
SELECT
*
FROM (
SELECT
col1,
col2
FROM
MyTable1
)
This will return all the columns from the two columns provided in the inner set.
So, your inner query, which I won't write for you since you appear to be a student, and that wouldn't be right for me to give you the entire answer, would be a query consisting of a GROUP BY clause and a SUM of the order value field. But the key thing you need to understand is this set thinking: you can just wrap the ENTIRE query inside brackets and treat it as a table the way I have done above. Hopefully this helps.

Answer 2

You need a subquery, like this:
select emailaddress, max(OrderTotal) as MaxOrder
from
( -- Open the subquery
select Cl.emailaddress,
Sh.ShipmentID,
sum(SI.Value) as OrderTotal -- Use the line item value column in here
from Client Cl -- First table
inner join Shipments Sh -- Join the shipments
on Sh.ClientID = Cl.ClientID
inner join ShipItem SI -- Now the items
on SI.ShipmentID = Sh.ShipmentID
group by C1.emailaddress, Sh.ShipmentID -- here's your grouping for the sum() aggregation
) -- Close subquery
group by emailaddress -- group for the max()

Answer 3

For the first query you can join the Clients to Shipments (on ClientId).
And Shipments to the ShipItems table (on ShipmentId).
Then group the results, and count or sum the total you need.
Using aliases for the tables is usefull, certainly when you select fields from the joined tables that have the same column name.
select
c.EmailAddress,
i.ShipmentId,
SUM((i.ShipItemPrice - i.ShipItemDiscountAmount) * i.Quantity) as TotalPriceDiscounted
from ShipItems i
join Shipments s on (s.ShipmentId = i.ShipmentId)
left join Clients c on (c.ClientId = s.ClientId)
group by i.ShipmentId, c.EmailAddress
order by i.ShipmentId, c.EmailAddress;
Using that grouped query in a subquery, you can get the Maximum total per EmailAddress.
select EmailAddress,
-- max(TotalShipItems) as MaxTotalShipItems,
max(TotalPriceDiscounted) as MaxTotalPriceDiscounted
from (
select
c.EmailAddress,
-- i.ShipmentId,
-- count(*) as TotalShipItems,
SUM((i.ShipItemPrice - i.ShipItemDiscountAmount) * i.Quantity) as TotalPriceDiscounted
from ShipItems i
join Shipments s on (s.ShipmentId = i.ShipmentId)
left join Clients c on (c.ClientId = s.ClientId)
group by i.ShipmentId, c.EmailAddress
) q
group by EmailAddress
order by EmailAddress
Note that an ORDER BY is mostly meaningless inside a subquery if you don't use TOP.