Ordering the results of CTE in SQL - sql

Question

I have following SQL:
;WITH CTE
AS (SELECT AL.*,
RV.FORENAME,
RV.SURNAME,
RV.USERNAME AS RegistrantUsername,
E.FORENAME AS EmployeeForename,
E.SURNAME AS EmployeeSurname,
U.USERNAME,
CASE
WHEN #Language = 2 THEN C.NAMELANG2
ELSE C.NAMELANG1
END AS CompanyName,
CASE
WHEN VC.COMPANYID IS NULL THEN
CASE
WHEN #Language = 2 THEN V.COMPANYNAMELANG2
ELSE V.COMPANYNAMELANG1
END
ELSE
CASE
WHEN #Language = 2 THEN VC.NAMELANG2
ELSE VC.NAMELANG1
END
END AS VacancyCompanyName,
CASE
WHEN #Language = 2 THEN V.JOBTITLELANG2
ELSE V.JOBTITLELANG1
END AS JobTitle,
ROW_NUMBER()
OVER(
PARTITION BY AL.REGISTRANTID, AL.COMPANYID
ORDER BY ACTIONDATE ASC) AS RN
FROM DBO.HR_ACTIONLOG AL
LEFT OUTER JOIN DBO.REGISTRANTSLISTVIEW RV
ON AL.REGISTRANTID = RV.REGISTRANTID
LEFT OUTER JOIN DBO.HR_EMPLOYEES E
ON AL.EMPLOYEEID = E.EMPLOYEEID
LEFT OUTER JOIN DBO.HR_USERS U
ON AL.USERID = U.USERID
LEFT OUTER JOIN DBO.HR_COMPANIES C
ON AL.COMPANYID = C.COMPANYID
LEFT OUTER JOIN DBO.HR_VACANCIES V
ON AL.VACANCYID = V.VACANCYID
LEFT OUTER JOIN DBO.HR_COMPANIES VC
ON V.COMPANYID = VC.COMPANYID
WHERE ( #Action IS NULL
OR AL.ACTION = #Action )
AND ( #DateFrom IS NULL
OR DBO.DATEONLY(AL.ACTIONDATE) >=
DBO.DATEONLY(#DateFrom) )
AND ( #DateTo IS NULL
OR DBO.DATEONLY(AL.ACTIONDATE) <= DBO.DATEONLY(#DateTo) )
AND ( #CompanyID IS NULL
OR AL.COMPANYID = #CompanyID )
AND ( #RegistrantID IS NULL
OR AL.REGISTRANTID = #RegistrantID )
AND ( #VacancyID IS NULL
OR AL.VACANCYID = #VacancyID )
--ORDER BY AL.ActionDate DESC
)
SELECT *
FROM CTE
WHERE RN = 1;
It returns first element from the group based on actiondate which is fine but the returned result is not ordered by date means returns each groups first record but the this collection of first records is not ordered by action date. I tried ORDER BY AL.ActionDate DESC in CTE but it gives error:
The ORDER BY clause is invalid in views, inline functions, derived tables, subqueries, and common table expressions, unless TOP or FOR XML is also specified.

Answer 1

Try this one -
;WITH CTE AS
(
SELECT ...
FROM dbo.hr_ActionLog AL
LEFT JOIN ...
WHERE AL.[Action] = ISNULL(#Action, AL.[Action])
AND dbo.DateOnly(AL.ActionDate) BETWEEN
dbo.DateOnly(ISNULL(#DateFrom, AL.ActionDate))
AND
dbo.DateOnly(ISNULL(#DateTo, '30000101'))
AND AL.CompanyID = ISNULL(#CompanyID, AL.CompanyID)
AND AL.RegistrantID = ISNULL(#RegistrantID, AL.RegistrantID)
AND AL.VacancyID = ISNULL(#VacancyID, AL.VacancyID)
)
SELECT *
FROM CTE
WHERE RN = 1
ORDER BY AL.ActionDate DESC;

Answer 2

Move order by clause outside of cte:
WITH CTE AS
(
...
)
SELECT *
FROM CTE
WHERE RN = 1;
ORDER BY ActionDate DESC

Answer 3

you do the ordering outside CTE
WITH CTE
AS
{
....
}
SELECT *
FROM CTE
WHERE RN = 1
ORDER BY ActionDate DESC

Answer 4

Yes, the only ORDER BY that affects the order in which the results are returned is one placed on the outermost SELECT:
SELECT *
FROM CTE
WHERE RN = 1
ORDER BY ActionDate DESC

Answer 5

You have a ROW_NUMBER function inside the CTE and the query only takes the row with RN=1.
If I understand the problem correctly, just change the ORDER BY clause in the ROW_NUMBER function and you should get the results you're looking for.