Oracle SQL compare dates to list - sql

Question

I have a list of model, serial, dates (the dates do not exist in the DB). I need to pull model, serial, and most recent call dates prior to the dates given to me. I did find a "solution" that worked using CASE but was wondering if there is a simpler way. When having a list of a 100+ items the OR CASE statements are a bit grueling to work with.
SELECT M.MODEL_NBR, DEV.SERIAL, i.c_date
FROM device dev,
model m,
A_DEVICE ad,
INTR i
WHERE (DEV.SERIAL, i.intr_id) IN
(select serial, max(t.intr_id) over (partition by t.part_id)
from intr t, device d
where t.part_id = AD.PART_ID
and d.device_id = ad.device_id
and d.model_type = 'XX'
and d.serial in ('1234', '5678')
and (1 = (case
when d.serial = '1234'
and t.c_date < to_date('10/10/2014', 'mm/dd/yyyy')
then 1
end)
or 1 = (case
when d.serial = '5678'
and t.c_date < to_date('11/11/2014', 'mm/dd/yyyy')
then 1
end)))
AND M.MODEL_ID = DEV.MODEL_ID
and M.MODEL_NBR = '1111'
AND DEV.DEVICE_ID = AD.DEVICE_ID
AND AD.PART_ID = I.PART_ID
order by DEV.SERIAL;

Answer 1

A CASE in the WHERE clause is almost always better represented as AND/OR expressions. In this case, instead of:
and d.serial in ('1234', '5678')
and (1 = (case
when d.serial = '1234'
and t.c_date < to_date('10/10/2014', 'mm/dd/yyyy')
then 1
end)
or 1 = (case
when d.serial = '5678'
and t.c_date < to_date('11/11/2014', 'mm/dd/yyyy')
then 1
end)))
You'd be better off using:
and (( d.serial = '1234'
and t.c_date < to_date('10/10/2014', 'mm/dd/yyyy'))
or (d.serial = '5678'
and t.c_date < to_date('11/11/2014', 'mm/dd/yyyy'))
Alternately, you could use a CTE to make a pseudo-table using your values:
WITH serial_values as (
select '1234' as serial, to_date('10/10/2014', 'mm/dd/yyyy') as c_date from dual
union all
select '5678' as serial, to_date('11/11/2014', 'mm/dd/yyyy') as c_date from dual)
SELECT M.MODEL_NBR, DEV.SERIAL, i.c_date
FROM device dev,
model m,
A_DEVICE ad,
INTR i
WHERE (DEV.SERIAL, i.intr_id) IN
(select serial, max(t.intr_id) over (partition by t.part_id)
from intr t
cross join device d
join serial_values sv
on d.serial = sv.serial
and t.c_date < sv.c_date
where t.part_id = AD.PART_ID
and d.device_id = ad.device_id
and d.model_type = 'XX')
AND M.MODEL_ID = DEV.MODEL_ID
and M.MODEL_NBR = '1111'
AND DEV.DEVICE_ID = AD.DEVICE_ID
AND AD.PART_ID = I.PART_ID
order by DEV.SERIAL;