Max and min both in a Group BY - sql

Question

I have requirement where I need to pull Max of data when > 0 and Min of data when < 0. And the tricky part is it should be in a same column. Example as follows:
Below Query:
SELECT A.employee_id, paycheck_number
max ( CASE
WHEN B.special = 'XXT' THEN B.AMOUNT
ELSE 0
END ) AMOUNT,
max ( CASE
WHEN B.special = 'XXH' THEN B.hrs1
ELSE 0
END ) HRS1
FROM Table1 A,
table2 B
LEFT OUTER JOIN table3 C
ON B.company = C.company
WHERE A .employee_id = '123456789'
GROUP BY A.employee_id, paycheck_number
ORDER BY 1
Returns:
EMPLOYEE_ID AMOUNT HRS1 paycheck_number
123456789 2799.82 134.84 1234
123456789 832.86 40 4321
123456789 0 0 5678
If removed the group by the data is :
EMPLOYEE_ID AMOUNT HRS1 paycheck_number
123456789 0 134.84 1234
123456789 2799.82 0 1234
123456789 0 40 4321
123456789 832.86 0 4321
123456789 0 -40 5678
123456789 -832.86 0 5678
Whereas I want:
EMPLOYEE_ID AMOUNT HRS1 paycheck_number
123456789 2799.82 134.84 1234
123456789 832.86 40 4321
123456789 -832.86 -40 5678
It looks simple but when I try It doesn't work.

Answer 1

In Oracle you get the value for the maximum absolute amount via KEEP DENSE_RANK FIRST/LAST:
max(value) keep (dense_rank last order by abs(value))
However, when there is always only the one non-zero value in one record and zeros or nulls in the other records to consider, you could simply add them:
sum(value)
In your case where only one record actually contains a value, you are creating the zero entries yourself and thus get 0 instead of, say, -40 when asking for the maximum value. Remove the ELSE branches that create the interfering zeros, and MAX will get you the correct value. E.g.:
max(case when b.special = 'XXT' then b.amount end) as amount