Apply the distinct on 2 fields and also fetch the unique data for each columns - sql

Question

According to some weird requirement, i need to select the record where all the output values in both the columns should be unique.
Input looks like this:
col1 col2
1 x
1 y
2 x
2 y
3 x
3 y
3 z
Expected Output is:
col1 col2
1 x
2 y
3 z
or
col1 col2
1 y
2 x
3 z
I tried applying the distinct on 2 fields but that returns all the records as overall they are distinct on both the fields. What we want to do is that if any value is present in the col1, then it cannot be repeated in the col2.
Please let me know if this is even possible and if yes, how to go about it.

Answer 1

Great problem! Armunin has picked up on the deeper structural issue here, this is a recursive enumerable problem description and can only be resolved with a recursive solution - base relational operators (join/union/etc) are not going to get you there. As Armunin cited, one approach is to bring out the PL/SQL, and though I haven't checked it in detail, I'd assume the PL/SQL code will work just fine. However, Oracle is kind enough to support recursive SQL, through which we can build the solution in just SQL:
-- Note - this SQL will generate every solution - you will need to filter for SOLUTION_NUMBER=1 at the end
with t as (
select 1 col1, 'x' col2 from dual union all
select 1 col1, 'y' col2 from dual union all
select 2 col1, 'x' col2 from dual union all
select 2 col1, 'y' col2 from dual union all
select 3 col1, 'x' col2 from dual union all
select 3 col1, 'y' col2 from dual union all
select 3 col1, 'z' col2 from dual
),
t0 as
(select t.*,
row_number() over (order by col1) id,
dense_rank() over (order by col2) c2_rnk
from t),
-- recursive step...
t1 (c2_rnk,ids, str) as
(-- base row
select c2_rnk, '('||id||')' ids, '('||col1||')' str
from t0
where c2_rnk=1
union all
-- induction
select t0.c2_rnk, ids||'('||t0.id||')' ids, str||','||'('||t0.col1||')'
from t1, t0
where t0.c2_rnk = t1.c2_rnk+1
and instr(t1.str,'('||t0.col1||')') =0
),
t2 as
(select t1.*,
rownum solution_number
from t1
where c2_rnk = (select max(c2_rnk) from t1)
)
select solution_number, col1, col2
from t0, t2
where instr(t2.ids,'('||t0.id||')') <> 0
order by 1,2,3
SOLUTION_NUMBER COL1 COL2
1 1 x
1 2 y
1 3 z
2 1 y
2 2 x
2 3 z

Answer 2

You can use a full outer join to merge two numbered lists together:
SELECT col1, col2
FROM ( SELECT col1, ROW_NUMBER() OVER ( ORDER BY col1 ) col1_num
FROM your_table
GROUP BY col1 )
FULL JOIN
( SELECT col2, ROW_NUMBER() OVER ( ORDER BY col2 ) col2_num
FROM your_table
GROUP BY col2 )
ON col1_num = col2_num
Change ORDER BY if you require a different order and use ORDER BY NULL if you're happy to let Oracle decide.

Answer 3

What would be the result if another row of
col1 value as 1 and col2 value as xx ?
A single row is better in this case:
SELECT DISTINCT TO_CHAR(col1) FROM your_table
UNION ALL
SELECT DISTINCT col2 FROM your_table;

Answer 4

My suggestion is something like this:
begin
EXECUTE IMMEDIATE 'CREATE global TEMPORARY TABLE tmp(col1 NUMBER, col2 VARCHAR2(50))';
end;
/
DECLARE
cur_print sys_refcursor;
col1 NUMBER;
col2 VARCHAR(50);
CURSOR cur_dist
IS
SELECT DISTINCT
col1
FROM
ttable;
filtered sys_refcursor;
BEGIN
FOR rec IN cur_dist
LOOP
INSERT INTO tmp
SELECT
col1,
col2
FROM
ttable t1
WHERE
t1.col1 = rec.col1
AND t1.col2 NOT IN
(
SELECT
tmp.col2
FROM
tmp
)
AND t1.col1 NOT IN
(
SELECT
tmp.col1
FROM
tmp
)
AND ROWNUM = 1;
END LOOP;
FOR rec in (select col1, col2 from tmp) LOOP
DBMS_OUTPUT.PUT_LINE('col1: ' || rec.col1 || '|| col2: ' || rec.col2);
END LOOP;
EXECUTE IMMEDIATE 'DROP TABLE tmp';
END;
/
May still need some refining, I am especially not happy with the ROWNUM = 1 part.

Answer 5

SQL Fiddle
Oracle 11g R2 Schema Setup:
CREATE TABLE tbl ( col1, col2 ) AS
SELECT 1, 'x' FROM DUAL
UNION ALL SELECT 1, 'y' FROM DUAL
UNION ALL SELECT 2, 'x' FROM DUAL
UNION ALL SELECT 2, 'y' FROM DUAL
UNION ALL SELECT 3, 'x' FROM DUAL
UNION ALL SELECT 3, 'y' FROM DUAL
UNION ALL SELECT 4, 'z' FROM DUAL;
Query 1:
WITH c1 AS (
SELECT DISTINCT
col1,
DENSE_RANK() OVER (ORDER BY col1) AS rank
FROM tbl
),
c2 AS (
SELECT DISTINCT
col2,
DENSE_RANK() OVER (ORDER BY col2) AS rank
FROM tbl
)
SELECT c1.col1,
c2.col2
FROM c1
FULL OUTER JOIN c2
ON ( c1.rank = c2.rank)
ORDER BY COALESCE( c1.rank, c2.rank)
Results:
| COL1 | COL2 |
|------|--------|
| 1 | x |
| 2 | y |
| 3 | z |
| 4 | (null) |
And to address the additional requirement:
What we want to do is that if any value is present in the col1, then it cannot be repeated in the col2.
Query 2:
WITH c1 AS (
SELECT DISTINCT
col1,
DENSE_RANK() OVER (ORDER BY col1) AS rank
FROM tbl
),
c2 AS (
SELECT DISTINCT
col2,
DENSE_RANK() OVER (ORDER BY col2) AS rank
FROM tbl
WHERE col2 NOT IN ( SELECT TO_CHAR( col1 ) FROM c1 )
)
SELECT c1.col1,
c2.col2
FROM c1
FULL OUTER JOIN c2
ON ( c1.rank = c2.rank)
ORDER BY COALESCE( c1.rank, c2.rank)