Working on a SQL statement here and I have sort of a stupid question. Ive got this date field that spits out various dates from years and months etc. I'm trying to order them correctly but i get only the month in order. Example is:
01-05-2012
12-30-2011
12-18-2011
11-25-2011
11-24-2011
Etc.
My query is as follows:
SELECT TOP (100) PERCENT CONVERT(VARCHAR(10), A.tran_end_time, 110) AS Date
FROM dbo.ttdpur040101_CT AS A INNER JOIN
dbo.ttdpur040101_Audit AS B ON NOT (A.tran_begin_time > B.event_time_local OR
A.tran_end_time < B.event_time_local) AND (A.__$operation = 2 AND B.action_id = 'IN' OR
(A.__$operation = 3 OR
A.__$operation = 4) AND B.action_id = 'UP' OR
A.__$operation = 1 AND B.action_id = 'DL') AND B.class_type = 'U'
WHERE (B.server_principal_name = #Name)
GROUP BY CONVERT(VARCHAR(10), A.tran_end_time, 110)
ORDER BY Date
I would like to have it shown as follows:
11-24-2011
11-25-2011
12-18-2011
12-25-2011
01-08-2012
01-09-2012
etc.
Thanks
You are ordering by a Date column that has been converted to a VARCHAR(). Instead order by the original date column:
ORDER BY A.tran_end_time ASC
That's because Date is a varchar.
Try it this way:
SELECT TOP (100) PERCENT CONVERT(VARCHAR(10), A.tran_end_time, 110) AS Date
FROM dbo.ttdpur040101_CT AS A INNER JOIN
dbo.ttdpur040101_Audit AS B ON NOT (A.tran_begin_time > B.event_time_local OR
A.tran_end_time < B.event_time_local) AND (A.__$operation = 2 AND B.action_id = 'IN' OR
(A.__$operation = 3 OR
A.__$operation = 4) AND B.action_id = 'UP' OR
A.__$operation = 1 AND B.action_id = 'DL') AND B.class_type = 'U'
WHERE (B.server_principal_name = #Name)
GROUP BY CONVERT(VARCHAR(10), A.tran_end_time, 110)
ORDER BY CONVERT(DATETIME, Date, 103) ASC
SELECT CONVERT(VARCHAR(10), [Date], 110) FROM (
SELECT TOP (100) PERCENT DATEADD(dd, datediff(dd, 0, A.tran_end_time), 0) AS Date
FROM dbo.ttdpur040101_CT AS A
INNER JOIN dbo.ttdpur040101_Audit AS B ON
NOT (A.tran_begin_time > B.event_time_local OR
A.tran_end_time < B.event_time_local) AND
(A.__$operation = 2 AND B.action_id = 'IN' OR
(A.__$operation = 3 OR A.__$operation = 4) AND
B.action_id = 'UP' OR
A.__$operation = 1 AND
B.action_id = 'DL'
) AND
B.class_type = 'U'
WHERE (B.server_principal_name = #Name)
GROUP BY DATEADD(dd, datediff(dd, 0, A.tran_end_time), 0)
) t
ORDER BY [Date]
Quite important is "rounding" to date part only. Faster than converting to varchar is DATEADD(dd, datediff(dd, 0, A.tran_end_time), 0) - because it's just math that SQL Server can do much faster than varchar manipulation.
Related
Currently I have a query that will get me the data from the pervious month .
I need to change thisso I can choose a selected date range that could allow me to input 2 dates and pull back all results between them.
See my query below:
select * from Table1 I
inner join Service K on I.Service_Key = K.Service_Key
inner join Status S on I.Status_Key = S.Status_Key
where K.Service_Key = '1'
and S.Status_Name = 'Closed'
and month(I.Date_Key) = (select case when Month (GETDATE())-1 = 0 then 12 else Month (GETDATE())-1 end)
and year(I.Date_Key) = (select case when Month (GETDATE()) -1 = 0 then year (GETDATE()) -1 ELSE YEAR (GETDATE()) end)
I need to be able to say where dates between dd/mm/yy and dd/mm/yy
You could declare the dates a variables:
Declare #Startdate as datetime
Declare #Enddate as datetime
set #Startdate = '01-AUG-20'
set #Enddate = '22-OCT-20'
select * from Table1 I
inner join Service K on I.Service_Key = K.Service_Key
inner join Status S on I.Status_Key = S.Status_Key
where K.Service_Key = '1'
and S.Status_Name = 'Closed'
and I.Date_Key > #Startdate
and I.Date_Key < #Enddate
A simple method is:
where K.Service_Key = '1' and
S.Status_Name = 'Closed' and
datediff(month, i.Date_key, getdate()) = 1
That version, however, cannot use an index on i.Date_Key if that is appropriate. A more index friendly version is:
where K.Service_Key = '1' and
S.Status_Name = 'Closed' and
i.Date_key < datefromparts(year(getdate()), month(getdate()), 1) and
i.Date_key >= dateadd(month, 1, datefromparts(year(getdate()), month(getdate()), 1))
I've got the following SQL query which gives me all of my assets which are older than two years, broken down by organization. Then I have to run it again and just remove the date comparison part in the WHERE clause to find out my total number of assets, so I can give a count of old, a count of total, and then a % old.
Is there a way to do this all as a single query? I'm thinking some type of case statement in the query maybe?
SELECT o.OrganizationHierarchyUnitLevelThreeNm, o.OrganizationHierarchyUnitLevelFourNm, COUNT(DISTINCT a.LabAssetSerialNbr) TotalAssets
FROM vw_DimLabAsset a
INNER JOIN vw_DimWorker w ON w.WorkerKey = a.LabAssetAssignedToWorkerKey
INNER JOIN vw_DimOrganizationHierarchy o ON o.OrganizationHierarchyUnitCd = w.WorkerOrganizationUnitCd
AND o.OrganizationHierarchyUnitLevelFourNm IS NOT NULL
WHERE a.SystemCreatedOnDtm < DATEADD(day, DATEDIFF(day, 0, DATEADD(yy, -2, GETDATE())), 0)
AND a.LabAssetTypeNm IN ('u_cmdb_ci_prototype_system', 'u_cmdb_ci_silicon')
AND a.LabAssetHardwareStatus <> 'retired'
AND (a.LabAssetHardwareSubStatus IS NULL OR a.LabAssetHardwareSubStatus <> 'archive')
GROUP BY o.OrganizationHierarchyUnitLevelThreeNm, o.OrganizationHierarchyUnitLevelFourNm
ORDER BY 1, 2
I tried adding this to the select: `
SUM(CASE WHEN a.SystemCreatedOnDtm < DATEADD(day, DATEDIFF(day, 0, DATEADD(yy, -2, GETDATE())), 0) THEN 1 ELSE 0 END)
but that doesn't return the same count as the TotalAssets value.
Update
Here's the final query I ended up with:
DECLARE #date DateTime
SELECT #date = DATEADD(day, DATEDIFF(day, 0, DATEADD(yy, -2, GETDATE())), 0);
WITH pphw AS
(
SELECT DISTINCT o.OrganizationHierarchyUnitLevelThreeNm, o.OrganizationHierarchyUnitLevelFourNm, a.LabAssetSerialNbr, MIN(a.SystemCreatedOnDtm) MinCreated
FROM vw_DimLabAsset a
INNER JOIN vw_DimWorker w ON a.LabAssetAssignedToWorkerKey = w.WorkerKey
INNER JOIN vw_DimOrganizationHierarchy o ON w.WorkerOrganizationUnitCd = o.OrganizationHierarchyUnitCd
AND o.OrganizationHierarchyUnitLevelThreeNm IS NOT NULL
AND o.OrganizationHierarchyUnitLevelFourNm IS NOT NULL
WHERE LabAssetHardwareStatus <> 'Retired'
AND (LabAssetHardwareSubStatus IS NULL OR LabAssetHardwareSubStatus <> 'Archive')
AND a.LabAssetTypeNm IN ('u_cmdb_ci_prototype_system', 'u_cmdb_ci_silicon')
GROUP BY o.OrganizationHierarchyUnitLevelThreeNm, o.OrganizationHierarchyUnitLevelFourNm, a.LabAssetSerialNbr
)
SELECT OrganizationHierarchyUnitLevelThreeNm, OrganizationHierarchyUnitLevelFourNm,
SUM(CASE WHEN MinCreated < #date THEN 1 ELSE 0 END) AssetsOverTwoYears,
COUNT(DISTINCT LabAssetSerialNbr) TotalAssets
FROM pphw
GROUP BY OrganizationHierarchyUnitLevelThreeNm, OrganizationHierarchyUnitLevelFourNm
HAVING SUM(CASE WHEN MinCreated < #date THEN 1 ELSE 0 END) > 0
ORDER BY 1, 2
My answer is similar to tysonwright, but I think the GROUP BY clause should be outside of the sub-select. But, I would want sample data to validate this. The bottom line is that you should first gather all of the records that you want calculate metrics on via a sub-select. From there, you can perform your SUMs and COUNTs.
SELECT TMP1.OrganizationHierarchyUnitLevelThreeNm
,TMP1.OrganizationHierarchyUnitLevelFourNm
,TotalAssets = COUNT(TMP1.LabAssetSerialNbr)
,AssetsOver2YearsOld = SUM(TMP1.AssetOver2YearsOldInd)
,PercAssetsOver2YearsOld = SUM(TMP1.AssetOver2YearsOldInd) / COUNT(TMP1.LabAssetSerialNbr)
FROM (SELECT DISTINCT o.OrganizationHierarchyUnitLevelThreeNm, o.OrganizationHierarchyUnitLevelFourNm, a.LabAssetSerialNbr
,AssetOver2YearsOldInd = CASE WHEN a.SystemCreatedOnDtm < DATEADD(d, DATEDIFF(d, 0, DATEADD(yy, -2, GETDATE())), 0) THEN 1 ELSE 0 END
FROM vw_DimLabAsset a
INNER JOIN vw_DimWorker w
ON w.WorkerKey = a.LabAssetAssignedToWorkerKey
INNER JOIN vw_DimOrganizationHierarchy o
ON o.OrganizationHierarchyUnitCd = w.WorkerOrganizationUnitCd
AND o.OrganizationHierarchyUnitLevelFourNm IS NOT NULL
WHERE a.LabAssetTypeNm IN ('u_cmdb_ci_prototype_system', 'u_cmdb_ci_silicon')
AND a.LabAssetHardwareStatus <> 'retired'
AND (a.LabAssetHardwareSubStatus IS NULL
OR a.LabAssetHardwareSubStatus <> 'archive')
) TMP1
GROUP BY TMP1.OrganizationHierarchyUnitLevelThreeNm, TMP1.OrganizationHierarchyUnitLevelFourNm
ORDER BY 1, 2
Update:
To remove the duplicates by date time, you can use either the MIN or MAX function, depending one what your requirement is:
SELECT TMP1.OrganizationHierarchyUnitLevelThreeNm
,TMP1.OrganizationHierarchyUnitLevelFourNm
,TotalAssets = COUNT(TMP1.LabAssetSerialNbr)
,AssetsOver2YearsOld = SUM(CASE WHEN TMP1.MaxSystemCreatedOnDtm < DATEADD(d, DATEDIFF(d, 0, DATEADD(yy, -2, GETDATE())), 0) THEN 1 ELSE 0 END)
,PercAssetsOver2YearsOld = SUM(CASE WHEN TMP1.MaxSystemCreatedOnDtm < DATEADD(d, DATEDIFF(d, 0, DATEADD(yy, -2, GETDATE())), 0) THEN 1 ELSE 0 END) / COUNT(TMP1.LabAssetSerialNbr)
FROM (SELECT DISTINCT o.OrganizationHierarchyUnitLevelThreeNm, o.OrganizationHierarchyUnitLevelFourNm, a.LabAssetSerialNbr, MaxSystemCreatedOnDtm = MAX(a.SystemCreatedOnDtm)
FROM vw_DimLabAsset a
INNER JOIN vw_DimWorker w
ON w.WorkerKey = a.LabAssetAssignedToWorkerKey
INNER JOIN vw_DimOrganizationHierarchy o
ON o.OrganizationHierarchyUnitCd = w.WorkerOrganizationUnitCd
AND o.OrganizationHierarchyUnitLevelFourNm IS NOT NULL
WHERE a.LabAssetTypeNm IN ('u_cmdb_ci_prototype_system', 'u_cmdb_ci_silicon')
AND a.LabAssetHardwareStatus <> 'retired'
AND (a.LabAssetHardwareSubStatus IS NULL
OR a.LabAssetHardwareSubStatus <> 'archive')
GROUP BY o.OrganizationHierarchyUnitLevelThreeNm, o.OrganizationHierarchyUnitLevelFourNm, a.LabAssetSerialNbr
) TMP1
GROUP BY TMP1.OrganizationHierarchyUnitLevelThreeNm, TMP1.OrganizationHierarchyUnitLevelFourNm
ORDER BY 1, 2
I think this will get you what you need:
SELECT
s.OrganizationHierarchyUnitLevelThreeNm,
s.OrganizationHierarchyUnitLevelFourNm,
COUNT(*) TotalAssets,
SUM(CASE WHEN s.SystemCreatedOnDtm < DATEADD(day, DATEDIFF(day, 0, DATEADD(yy, -2, GETDATE())), 0)
THEN 1 ELSE 0 END) AssetsOver2YearsOld,
SUM(CASE WHEN s.SystemCreatedOnDtm < DATEADD(day, DATEDIFF(day, 0, DATEADD(yy, -2, GETDATE())), 0)
THEN 1 ELSE 0 END) / COUNT(*) PercAssetsOver2YearsOld
FROM
(
SELECT
o.OrganizationHierarchyUnitLevelThreeNm,
o.OrganizationHierarchyUnitLevelFourNm
a.LabAssetSerialNbr,
a.SystemCreatedOnDtm
FROM
vw_DimLabAsset a
INNER JOIN
vw_DimWorker w
ON
w.WorkerKey = a.LabAssetAssignedToWorkerKey
INNER JOIN
vw_DimOrganizationHierarchy o
ON
o.OrganizationHierarchyUnitCd = w.WorkerOrganizationUnitCd
AND
o.OrganizationHierarchyUnitLevelFourNm IS NOT NULL
WHERE
a.LabAssetTypeNm IN ('u_cmdb_ci_prototype_system', 'u_cmdb_ci_silicon')
AND
a.LabAssetHardwareStatus <> 'retired'
AND
(a.LabAssetHardwareSubStatus IS NULL OR a.LabAssetHardwareSubStatus <> 'archive')
GROUP BY
o.OrganizationHierarchyUnitLevelThreeNm,
o.OrganizationHierarchyUnitLevelFourNm
a.LabAssetSerialNbr,
a.SystemCreatedOnDtm
) AS s
I'm creating a Date_Dimension and have the Problem that i have to define "lastworkingdayofmonth" with Setting a flag on it.
I can handle all days but when the calculated they is a Holiday i cant get the day before to set the flag.
Please help me :)
UPDATE DATE_DIMENSION_001
SET ISLASTWORKINGDAYMONTH =
CASE WHEN ( CONVERT(VARCHAR(8), lastdayofmonth, 112) = Datekey ) AND IsWeekday = 1 AND IsHolidayAut = 0 THEN 1
WHEN ( CONVERT(VARCHAR(8), dbo.fn_LastWorkday(FullDate), 112) ) = Datekey AND IsHolidayAut = 0 THEN 1
WHEN ( CONVERT(VARCHAR(8), dbo.fn_LastWorkday(FullDate), 112) ) = Datekey AND IsHolidayAut = 1 THEN
CASE WHEN ( DATEADD(DD, -1, dbo.fn_LastWorkday(FullDate)) ) = CONVERT(DATE, Datekey) THEN 1
END
END
I think that something like this may work for you:
UPDATE dd
SET ISLASTWORKINGDAYMONTH = 1
FROM
DATE_DIMENSION_001 dd
left join
DATE_DIMENSION_001 dd_anti
on
DATEPART(year,dd.FullDate) = DATEPART(year,dd_anti.FullDate) and
DATEPART(month,dd.FullDate) = DATEPART(month,dd_anti.FullDate) and
dd_anti.FullDate > dd.FullDate and
dd_anti.IsWeekday = 1 and
dd_anti.IsHolidayAut = 0
WHERE
dd.IsWeekday = 1 and
dd.IsHolidayAut = 0 and
dd_anti.FullDate is null
That is, we locate rows which are weekdays, not holidays, and for which (via dd_anti, the LEFT JOIN and the null check in the WHERE clause) we cannot locate another row for the same month, but a later date, and is also a weekday and not a holiday.
select count(distinct(dateadd(d, 0, datediff(d, 0,checktime)))) as workingdays
from departments,
dbo.USERINFO INNER JOIN dbo.CHECKINOUT ON
dbo.USERINFO.USERID = dbo.CHECKINOUT.USERID
where userinfo.name='Gokul Gopalakrishnan' and deptname='GEN/SUP-TBL'
and checktime>='2014-05-01' and checktime<='2014-05-30'
from the above code I am able to find total working days of employee between two dates.
workingdays
20
but now I want other column name total business days. I want to calculate total business days between two dates.
workingdays businessdays
20 21
how can i do this?
If you only want to exclude weekends then you can simply just exclude these using a conditional count by adding:
count(distinct case when datepart(weekday, getdate()) <= 5 then date end)
So your query becomes:
set datefirst 1;
select count(distinct(dateadd(d, 0, datediff(d, 0,checktime)))) as workingdays,
count(distinct case when datepart(weekday, getdate()) <= 5
then dateadd(d, 0, datediff(d, 0,checktime))
end) as weekdays
from departments,
dbo.USERINFO INNER JOIN dbo.CHECKINOUT ON
dbo.USERINFO.USERID = dbo.CHECKINOUT.USERID
where userinfo.name='Gokul Gopalakrishnan' and deptname='GEN/SUP-TBL'
and checktime>='2014-05-01' and checktime<='2014-05-30'
HOWEVER I would really recommend adding a calendar table to your database. It makes everything so easy, your query would become:
SELECT DaysWorked = COUNT(cio.Date),
WeekDaysWorked = COUNT(CASE WHEN c.IsWeekDay = 1 THEN cio.Date END),
WorkingDaysWorked = COUNT(CASE WHEN c.IsWorkingDay = 1 THEN cio.Date END),
TotalDays = COUNT(*),
TotalWeekDays = COUNT(CASE WHEN c.IsWeekDay = 1 THEN 1 END),
TotalWorkingDays = COUNT(CASE WHEN c.IsWorkingDay = 1 THEN 1 END)
FROM dbo.Calender AS c
LEFT JOIN
( SELECT DISTINCT
Date = CAST(CheckTime AS DATE)
FROM dbo.Departments AS d
CROSS JOIN dbo.userInfo AS ui
INNER JOIN dbo.CheckInOut AS cio
ON cio.UserID = ui.UserID
WHERE ui.Name = 'Gokul Gopalakrishnan'
AND d.deptname = 'GEN/SUP-TBL'
) AS cio
ON c.Date = cio.Date
WHERE d.Date >= '2014-05-01'
AND d.Date <= '2014-05-30';
This way you can define public holidays, weekends, etc. It is so much more flexible than any other solution.
EDIT
I think I misunderstood your original criteria. This should work for you with no calendar table:
SET DATEFIRST 1;
DECLARE #StartDate DATE = '2014-05-01',
#EndDate DATE = '2014-05-30';
DECLARE #Workdays INT =
(DATEDIFF(DAY, #StartDate, #EndDate) + 1)
-(DATEDIFF(WEEK, #StartDate, #EndDate) * 2)
-(CASE WHEN DATEPART(WEEKDAY, #StartDate) = 7 THEN 1 ELSE 0 END)
-(CASE WHEN DATEPART(WEEKDAY, #EndDate) = 6 THEN 1 ELSE 0 END);
SELECT WorkingDays = COUNT(DISTINCT CAST(CheckTime AS DATE)),
BusinessDays = #Workdays
FROM dbo.Departments AS d
CROSS JOIN dbo.userInfo AS ui
INNER JOIN dbo.CheckInOut AS cio
ON cio.UserID = ui.UserID
WHERE ui.Name = 'Gokul Gopalakrishnan'
AND d.deptname = 'GEN/SUP-TBL'
AND cio.CheckTime >= #StartDate
AND cio.CheckTime <= #EndDate;
following query calculate Fridays count between #FromDate and #ToDate variable
((DATEDIFF(DAY,#FromDate,#ToDate)-(6-DATEPART(dw,#FromDate)))/7)*2
Following query calculate Working day count and business day count between to date :
DECLARE #FromDate DATE = '2014-05-01',
#ToDate DATE = '2014-05-30'
SELECT COUNT(DISTINCT CAST(checktime AS Date)) as workingdays,
DATEDIFF(DAY,#FromDate,#ToDate) -
((DATEDIFF(DAY,#FromDate,#ToDate)-(6-DATEPART(dw,#FromDate)))/7)*2 AS BusinessDay
from departments,
dbo.USERINFO INNER JOIN dbo.CHECKINOUT ON
dbo.USERINFO.USERID = dbo.CHECKINOUT.USERID
where userinfo.name='Gokul Gopalakrishnan' and deptname='GEN/SUP-TBL'
and checktime>= #FromDate and checktime<=#ToDate
I have a dataset I retrieve from multiple joins. I have used SELECT DISTINCT in my statements but I still see duplicates in the result set. Here is the code:
SELECT DISTINCT Account
, PayoffAmtDOL as 'Payoff Amount DOL'
, PayoffAmtLOG as 'Payoff Amount LOG'
, PayoffAmountLive as 'Payoff Amount Live'
, [Difference]
, PrincipalBalance as 'Principal Balance'
, CreationDate as 'Date Entered System'
, CACSState as 'CACS State at Entry'
, PaymentsMade AS 'Payments Made'
, TotalPaymentAmount as 'Total Payment Amount'
, 'Liquidation Percentage' = CASE WHEN PayoffAmountLive = 0 THEN 1
WHEN ISNULL([Difference],0) = ISNULL(PayoffAmtDOL, 0) THEN 1
WHEN ISNULL([Difference],0) < 0 AND ISNULL(PayoffAmtDOL, 0) > 0 THEN 0
WHEN ISNULL([Difference],0) > 0 AND ISNULL(PayoffAmtDOL, 0) < 0 THEN 1
WHEN ISNULL([Difference],0) > ISNULL(PayoffAmtDOL, 0) THEN 1
WHEN [Difference] > 0 AND ISNULL(PayoffAmtDOL, 0) = 0 THEN 1
WHEN ISNULL(PayoffAmtDOL, 0) = 0 THEN 0
ELSE ISNULL([Difference],0)/ISNULL(PayoffAmtDOL, 0) END
, Cnt = 1
FROM
(
SELECT DISTINCT a.Account,
c.PayoffAmtDOL,
c.PayoffAmtLOG,
(ISNULL(c.PayoffAmtCACS, cacs.payoff_amt)) as 'PayoffAmountLive',
(ISNULL(c.PayoffAmtDOL, 0) - (ISNULL(c.PayoffAmtCACS , ISNULL(cacs.payoff_amt, 0)))) as 'Difference',
c.PrincipalBalance,
c.CreationDate,
c.CACSState,
(SELECT COUNT(PaymentID)
FROM tblATLPaymentInfo p
WHERE p.AccountID = a.AccountID
AND CONVERT(DATETIME, CONVERT(VARCHAR(10), p.CreationDate, 101)) >= '1/1/2014'
AND CONVERT(DATETIME, CONVERT(VARCHAR(10), p.CreationDate, 101)) <= '3/27/2014'
) as 'PaymentsMade',
(SELECT SUM(PaymentAmount)
FROM tblATLPaymentInfo p
WHERE p.AccountID = a.AccountID
AND CONVERT(DATETIME, CONVERT(VARCHAR(10), p.CreationDate, 101)) >= '1/1/2014'
AND CONVERT(DATETIME, CONVERT(VARCHAR(10), p.CreationDate, 101)) <= '3/27/2014'
) as 'TotalPaymentAmount'
FROM tblATLAcctInfo a
RIGHT JOIN tblATLClaimInfo c
ON c.AccountID = a.AccountID
LEFT JOIN SCFLOKYDCMSQL03.CACS_DM.dbo.Cacs_Info cacs
ON cacs.Account = a.Account
WHERE CONVERT(DATETIME, CONVERT(VARCHAR(10), c.CreationDate, 101)) >= '1/1/2014'
AND CONVERT(DATETIME, CONVERT(VARCHAR(10), c.CreationDate, 101)) <= '3/27/2014'
AND c.ClaimTypeID = (SELECT DISTINCT ClaimTypeID FROM tblATLClaimType WHERE ClaimType = 'N02 - Claims')
) a
ORDER BY Account
Here is an example of the duplicate rows:
AccountID DateEntered
123 01/19/2014
123 01/21/2014
345 02/1/2014
345 02/10/2014
The difference between appears to be the date entered. Maybe selecting the Row_Number() and then deleting the later date could be a solution
DISTINCT should not return multiple rows.. there should be at least one column that is different in each row, no? With character data, sometimes one can be fooled by non-visible differences, such as trailing spaces. Not sure if that is the case here, though.
Can you give an example of the duplicate rows?
OK, I see your edit. You have to select which of the dates to display. Try this to get the earliest date per AccountID:
SELECT AccountID, MIN(DateEntered) AS DateEntered
FROM ....
GROUP BY AccountID
ORDER BY AccountID
You can add more columns in the SELECT, as long as they are distinct you will not get more rows.
If you want, you can add COUNT(*) to the select to get the number of rows grouped.
DISTINCT will only reject lines that are exact duplicates, the DateEntered is different on each ID. If you want the latest, use Max(DateEntered)