Select MAX Value from pivot - sql

Question

I am working on an application where the user enters their name, age, state of residence. We want to capture the state to use for various things. Very straight forward when only one name, age, state of residence is listed. In some cases the user may list more than one name, age, state of residence. All of the data is stored in one table called Table. There is an ID, Name, and Value Column. I am attempting to pivot the data and then select the State of residence I need. There are two scenarios I need to account for.
-There are multiple names, ages, states of residence entered on the application. The state of residence we want is the one with the highest age. i.e.
Name Age State of Residence
John 25 FL
Bill 31 AL
Sue 26 MS
In scenario 1 I want to return AL as the State of Residence
-There are multiple names, ages, states of residence entered on the application. If the ages are the same in multiple states of residence, return the state that falls first alphabetically.
Name Age State of Residence
John 25 FL
Will 25 CA
Sue 26 MS
In scenario 2 I want to return CA as the State of Residence
I have tried:
Select State, Age
FROM (
Select * from Table
where ID = #ID and Name IN (State,Age)
) as s
PIVOT
(
MAX(value) FOR Name IN (State,Age)
) as pvt
This returns the data, I just lack the knowledge on how to get the rest of the way. I tried adding group by but it would not work with the PIVOT.
I also tried it this way:
DECLARE #State AS NVARCHAR(2)
SELECT
[State],[ [Acres]
INTO #tmpTable FROM Table
PIVOT
(
MAX(Value)
FOR [Name]
IN ([State],[Acres])AS p
WHERE ID = #ID
--
SELECT * FROM #tmpTable
--
DROP TABLE #tmpTable
Edited/Updated information:
I have one table called dbo.Table with ID,NAME,VALUE,INSTANCE columns. In the first scenario, the table looks like this after the user enters two different records:
ID NAME VALUE INSTANCE
1000 FIRST NAME JOHN 1
1000 AGE 25 1
1000 STATE AZ 1
1000 FIRST NAME BILL 2
1000 AGE 27 2
1000 STATE NH 2
I want to return NH as the State of Residence becuase it has the higest age.
In the second scenario the table looks like:
ID NAME VALUE INSTANCE
1000 FIRST NAME JOHN 1
1000 AGE 25 1
1000 STATE AZ 1
1000 FIRST NAME BILL 2
1000 AGE 25 2
1000 STATE NH 2
I want to return AZ as the State of Residence because it falls first alphabetically
I am accounting for both scenarios. Neither is guaranteed to occur. The user may only enter one record. Either way a State of Residence is always returned. I hope that makes more sense. I attempted to pivot the data as you see it above, but do not understand how to get the state i need. Thanks.

Answer 1

Edited
Ok. I got the point. You're suffering from a bad designed table. It is not at least in 1FN where each table column (attribute) cannot store more than a single value from a single domain.
In your case you have a widespread table, accepting any kind of attribute you want. The best option to you is fix your columns in a common 1FN table, like:
CREATE TABLE dbo.table (
instance INTEGER ... ,
first_name VARCHAR... ,
age integer... ,
state CHAR(2)...
)
Anyways, if you're working with legacy applications that you cannot modify, try this out:
-- Create a database VIEW to simulate a 1FN table
CREATE VIEW dbo.view1 AS
SELECT DISTINCT
t.INSTANCE,
(
SELECT
t2.value
FROM
dbo.table t2
WHERE
t2.id = t.id
AND t2.instance = t.instance
AND t2.name = 'FIRST NAME'
) AS FIRST_NAME,
(
SELECT
t2.value
FROM
dbo.table t2
WHERE
t2.id = t.id
AND t2.instance = t.instance
AND t2.name = 'AGE'
) AS AGE,
(
SELECT
t2.value
FROM
dbo.table t2
WHERE
t2.id = t.id
AND t2.instance = t.instance
AND t2.name = 'STATE'
) AS STATE
FROM
dbo.table t
Then...
Question 1 - although all fields are selected you can fetch only state if you want
SELECT
*
FROM
dbo.view1 v
WHERE
v.age = (
SELECT
MAX(v2.age)
FROM
dbo.view1 v2
)
Question 2 - First state according to alphabetical order ascending
SELECT
MIN(v.state) AS state
FROM
dbo.view1 v
WHERE
-- you can define a WHERE condition to meet your requirements here
v.age = 25
If you like it, please upvote this answer or mark it as acceptable :)