Column is invalid in the select list because it is not contained in either an aggregate function or the GROUP BY clause - sql

Question

I'm trying to select the latest date and group by name and keep other columns.
For example:
name status date
-----------------------
a l 13/19/04
a n 13/09/05
a dd 13/18/03
b l 13/01/01
b dd 13/01/02
b n 13/01/03
and I want the result like:
name status date
-----------------
a n 13/09/05
b n 13/01/03
Here's my code
SELECT
Name,
MAX(DATE) as Date,
Status
FROM
[ST].[dbo].[PS_RC_STATUS_TBL]
GROUP BY
Name
I know that I should put max(status) because There are a lot of possibilities in each case, and nothing in the query makes it clear which value to choose for status in each group. Is there anyway to use inner join ?

Answer 1

It's not clear to me you want the max or min status. Rather it seems to me you want the name and status as of a date certain. That is, you want the rows with the lastest date for each name. So ask for that:
select * from PS_RC_STATUS_TBL as T
where exists (
select 1 from PS_RC_STATUS_TBL
where name = T.name
group by name
having max(date) = T.date
)
Another way to think about it is
select T.*
from PS_RC_STATUS_TBL as T
join (
select name, max(date) as date
from PS_RC_STATUS_TBL
group by name
) as D
on T.name = D.name
and T.date = D.date

Answer 2

SQL Server needs to know what to do with the rows that you are not grouping on (it has multiple rows to show on 1 line - so how?). If you have aggregated on them (MIN, MAX, AVG, etc) then you are telling it what to do with these rows. If not it will not know what to do - and will give you an error like the one you are getting.
From what you are saying though - it sounds like you do not want to group by the status. It sounds like you are not interested in that column at all. Let me know If that assumption is wrong.
SELECT
Name,
MAX(Date) AS 'Date',
FROM
PS_RC_STATUS_TBL
GROUP BY
Name
If you really do want the status, but don't want to group on it - try this:
SELECT
MyTable1.Name,
MyTable2.Status,
MyTable1.Date
FROM
(SELECT Name, MAX(Date) AS 'Date' FROM PS_RC_STATUS_TBL GROUP BY Name) MyTable1
INNER JOIN
(SELECT Name, Date, Status FROM PS_RC_STATUS_TBL) MyTable2
ON MyTable1.Name = MyTable2.Name
AND MyTable1.Date = MyTable2.Date
That gives the exact results you've asked for - so does the method below using a CTE.
OR
WITH cte AS (
SELECT Name, MAX(Date) AS Date
FROM PS_RC_STATUS_TBL
GROUP BY Name)
SELECT cte.Name,
tbl.Status,
cte.Date
FROM cte INNER JOIN
PS_RC_STATUS_TBL tbl ON cte.Name = tbl.Name
AND cte.Date = tbl.Date
SQLFiddle example.

Answer 3

It just means that you need to put all non-aggregated columns in the GROUP BY clause, so in the case you need to put the other one
Select Name ,
MAX(DATE) as Date ,
Status
FROM [ST].[dbo].[PS_RC_STATUS_TBL] PS
Group by Name, Status

Answer 4

This is a common problem with text fields in SQL aggregation scenarios. Using either MAX(Status) or MIN(Status) in your field list is a solution, usually MAX(Status) because of the lexical ordering:
"" < " " < "a"
In cases where you really need a more detailed ordering:
Join to a StatusOrder relation (*Status, OrderSequence) in your main query;
select Max(OrderSequence) in your aggregated query; and
Join back to your StatusOrder relation on OrderSequence to select the correct Status value for display.

Answer 5

Whatever fields you're selecting other than aggregation function, need to mention in group by clause.
SELECT
gf.app_id,
ma.name as name,
count(ma.name) as count
FROM [dbo].[geo_fen_notification_table] as gf
inner join dbo.mobile_applications as ma on gf.app_id = ma.id
GROUP BY app_id,name
Here im accessing app_id and name in select, so i need to mention that after group by clause. otherwise it will throw error.