SQL - Order after filtering - sql

How can I order the data and then filter it in TSQL (SQL Server)?
I've tried something like this:
SELECT [Job].*,
ROW_NUMBER() OVER (ORDER BY [Job].[Date]) AS RowNum
FROM [Job]
ORDER BY Rank
WHERE RowNum >= #Start AND RowNum < #End
Doesn't work. I also tried to use a subquery, which throws:
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.
I don't want to use TOP or FOR XML.
How to solve this?

Use a CTE. Note, the "inner" ORDER BY in this case is implied by the ROW_NUMBER/OVER.
;WITH cBase AS
(
SELECT
[Job].*,
ROW_NUMBER() OVER (ORDER BY [Job].[Date]) AS RowNum
FROM
[Job]
)
SELECT
*
FROM
cBase
WHERE
RowNum >= #Start AND RowNum < #End
--ORDER BY
--output order
Edit:
Your search between #Start and #End is on the sequence generated by the ROW_NUMBER on date.
Rank has no relation to this sequence. Rank (assuming it's a column in the table) will be ignored because your sequence is on Date. You don't need to sort on it.
If "rank" is actually "RowNum" then you still don't need an "inner" sort because it's a set operation. You'll need it on the outermost sort though.
If rank is a secondary sort on Date then use this:
ROW_NUMBER() OVER (ORDER BY [Job].[Date], [Job].[Rank]) AS RowNum

Related

Migrating Oracle specific sql to postgresql

Oracle:
select RANK () OVER (PARTITION BY EQUIP_UNIT_INIT_CODE ORDER BY EQUIP_UNIT_INIT_CODE, ROWNUM) from CAR_SEARCH_GTT;
Postgres: ?
Issue: there is no Rownum in postgresql, if we use row_number() over () instead of ROWNUM, the PSQLException would be thrown.
ERROR: window functions are not allowed in window definitions
Question: How to convert the query above to PostgreSQL?
Using a non-deterministic ROWNUM makes sense if you do not want RANK() numbers repeated in the case of ties.
That said, as #a_horse_with_no_name said, it make no sense whatsoever to ORDER BY the same column that you PARTITION BY.
Please try this:
with numbered as (
select *, row_number() over () as rnum
from CAR_SEARCH_GTT
)
select RANK () OVER (PARTITION BY EQUIP_UNIT_INIT_CODE
ORDER BY EQUIP_UNIT_INIT_CODE, rnum)
from CAR_SEARCH_GTT;
If there is a PK on CAR_SEARCH_GTT as id, then you can do something like this:
select RANK () OVER (PARTITION BY EQUIP_UNIT_INIT_CODE
ORDER BY EQUIP_UNIT_INIT_CODE, id)
from CAR_SEARCH_GTT;
SQL table represent unordered sets. Without an explicit sort, the rows are in arbitrary order. If the sort keys are not unique, then ties are in an arbitrary order.
Then, you don't need to repeat the PARTITION BY key in the ORDER BY for window functions. You could write what you want in Oracle as:
select RANK() OVER (PARTITION BY EQUIP_UNIT_INIT_CODE ORDER BY ROWNUM)
from CAR_SEARCH_GTT;
Despite the rownum, the ordering is arbitrary. Oracle makes no guarantee on the ordering within each group.
The one effect of rownum is to have a different value on each row. Hence, there are no ties. This is more clearly expressed using ROW_NUMBER():
select ROW_NUMBER() OVER (PARTITION BY EQUIP_UNIT_INIT_CODE ORDER BY ROWNUM)
from CAR_SEARCH_GTT;
Oracle requires an ORDER BY clause, so anything can go there.
In Postgres, you can do the same thing by removing the ORDER BY -- Postgres extends the syntax of ROW_NUMBER. So the equivalent is:
select ROW_NUMBER() OVER (PARTITION BY EQUIP_UNIT_INIT_CODE)
from CAR_SEARCH_GTT;
In both cases, you might have an appropriate key for ordering -- perhaps an identity column or creation date.

Ambiguous column name using row_number() without alias

I'm trying to implement pagination in a query that is built using information from a view, and I need to use the row_number() function over a column when I don't know which table it is from.
SELECT * FROM (
SELECT class.ID as ID, user.ID as USERID, row_number() over (ORDER BY
ID desc) as row_number FROM class, user
) out_q WHERE row_number > #startrow ORDER BY row_number
The problem is that I only have the result column name (ID or USERID) that came from a previous query. If I execute this query, it will raise the error 'Ambiguous column name "ID"'. Is there a way to specify that I'm referencing the column ID that is being selected and not from a different table?
Is it possible to specify an alias to the query result itself?
I have already tried the following,
SELECT TOP 30 * FROM (
SELECT *, row_number() over (ORDER BY ID desc) as row_number FROM(
SELECT class.ID as ID, user.ID as USERID FROM class, user
) in_q
) out_q WHERE row_number > #startrow ORDER BY row_number
It works, but the SGBD gets confused on which query plan it has to use, because of the small row goal present in the outer query and the big set of results returned by the inner query, when #startrow is a small number, the query executes in less than one second, when it is a big number the query takes minutes to execute.
Your problem is the id in the row_number itself. If you want a stable sort, then include both ids:
SELECT *
FROM (SELECT class.ID as ID, user.ID as USERID,
row_number() over (ORDER BY class.ID desc, user.id) as row_number
FROM class CROSS JOIN user
) out_q
WHERE row_number > #startrow
ORDER BY row_number;
I assume the cartesian product is intentional. Sometimes, this indicates an error in the query. In general, I would advise you to avoid using commas in the from clause. If you do want a cartesian product, then be explicit by using CROSS JOIN.
You could try using the option you already tried, then use the OPTIMIZE FOR hint.
OPTION ( OPTIMIZE FOR (#startrow = 100000) );
See a description of the hint in MSDN docs here: https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms181714.aspx.

Postgres Window Function Syntax

Why does the following query:
select ROW_NUMBER() OVER(PARTITION BY user_id ORDER BY time DESC) as rownum FROM users where rownum < 20;
produce the following error?
ERROR: column "rownum" does not exist
LINE 1: ...d ORDER BY time DESC) as rownum FROM users where rownum < 2...
How can I structure this query so that I get the first 20 items, as defined by my window function?
user_id and time are both defined columns on users.
It would work like this:
SELECT *
FROM (
SELECT ROW_NUMBER() OVER(PARTITION BY user_id ORDER BY time DESC) AS rownum
FROM users
) x
WHERE rownum < 20;
The point here is the sequence of events. Window functions are applied after the WHERE clause. Therefore rownum is not visible, yet. You have to put it into a subquery or CTE and apply the WHERE clause on rownum in the next query level.
Per documentation:
Window functions are permitted only in the SELECT list and the ORDER BY
clause of the query. They are forbidden elsewhere, such as in GROUP BY,
HAVING and WHERE clauses. This is because they logically execute
after the processing of those clauses. Also, window functions execute
after regular aggregate functions. This means it is valid to include
an aggregate function call in the arguments of a window function, but
not vice versa.
Because the where clause executes before the select so it does not know about that alias yet. Do it like this:
select *
from (
select ROW_NUMBER() OVER(PARTITION BY user_id ORDER BY time DESC) as rownum
FROM users
) s
where rownum < 20;

Why no windowed functions in where clauses?

Title says it all, why can't I use a windowed function in a where clause in SQL Server?
This query makes perfect sense:
select id, sales_person_id, product_type, product_id, sale_amount
from Sales_Log
where 1 = row_number() over(partition by sales_person_id, product_type, product_id order by sale_amount desc)
But it doesn't work. Is there a better way than a CTE/Subquery?
EDIT
For what its worth this is the query with a CTE:
with Best_Sales as (
select id, sales_person_id, product_type, product_id, sale_amount, row_number() over (partition by sales_person_id, product_type, product_id order by sales_amount desc) rank
from Sales_log
)
select id, sales_person_id, product_type, product_id, sale_amount
from Best_Sales
where rank = 1
EDIT
+1 for the answers showing with a subquery, but really I'm looking for the reasoning behind not being able to use windowing functions in where clauses.
why can't I use a windowed function in a where clause in SQL Server?
One answer, though not particularly informative, is because the spec says that you can't.
See the article by Itzik Ben Gan - Logical Query Processing: What It Is And What It Means to You and in particular the image here. Window functions are evaluated at the time of the SELECT on the result set remaining after all the WHERE/JOIN/GROUP BY/HAVING clauses have been dealt with (step 5.1).
really I'm looking for the reasoning behind not being able to use
windowing functions in where clauses.
The reason that they are not allowed in the WHERE clause is that it would create ambiguity. Stealing Itzik Ben Gan's example from High-Performance T-SQL Using Window Functions (p.25)
Suppose your table was
CREATE TABLE T1
(
col1 CHAR(1) PRIMARY KEY
)
INSERT INTO T1 VALUES('A'),('B'),('C'),('D'),('E'),('F')
And your query
SELECT col1
FROM T1
WHERE ROW_NUMBER() OVER (ORDER BY col1) <= 3
AND col1 > 'B'
What would be the right result? Would you expect that the col1 > 'B' predicate ran before or after the row numbering?
There is no need for CTE, just use the windowing function in a subquery:
select id, sales_person_id, product_type, product_id, sale_amount
from
(
select id, sales_person_id, product_type, product_id, sale_amount,
row_number() over(partition by sales_person_id, product_type, product_id order by sale_amount desc) rn
from Sales_Log
) sl
where rn = 1
Edit, moving my comment to the answer.
Windowing functions are not performed until the data is actually selected which is after the WHERE clause. So if you try to use a row_number in a WHERE clause the value is not yet assigned.
"All-at-once operation" means that all expressions in the same
logical query process phase are evaluated logically at the same time.
And great chapter Impact on Window Functions:
Suppose you have:
CREATE TABLE #Test ( Id INT) ;
INSERT INTO #Test VALUES ( 1001 ), ( 1002 ) ;
SELECT Id
FROM #Test
WHERE Id = 1002
AND ROW_NUMBER() OVER(ORDER BY Id) = 1;
All-at-Once operations tell us these two conditions evaluated logically at the same point of time. Therefore, SQL Server can
evaluate conditions in WHERE clause in arbitrary order, based on
estimated execution plan. So the main question here is which condition
evaluates first.
Case 1:
If ( Id = 1002 ) is first, then if ( ROW_NUMBER() OVER(ORDER BY Id) = 1 )
Result: 1002
Case 2:
If ( ROW_NUMBER() OVER(ORDER BY Id) = 1 ), then check if ( Id = 1002 )
Result: empty
So we have a paradox.
This example shows why we cannot use Window Functions in WHERE clause.
You can think more about this and find why Window Functions are
allowed to be used just in SELECT and ORDER BY clauses!
Addendum
Teradata supports QUALIFY clause:
Filters results of a previously computed ordered analytical function according to user‑specified search conditions.
SELECT Id
FROM #Test
WHERE Id = 1002
QUALIFY ROW_NUMBER() OVER(ORDER BY Id) = 1;
Snowflake - Qualify
QUALIFY does with window functions what HAVING does with aggregate functions and GROUP BY clauses.
In the execution order of a query, QUALIFY is therefore evaluated after window functions are computed. Typically, a SELECT statement’s clauses are evaluated in the order shown below:
From
Where
Group by
Having
Window
QUALIFY
Distinct
Order by
Limit
Databricks - QUALIFY clasue
Filters the results of window functions. To use QUALIFY, at least one window function is required to be present in the SELECT list or the QUALIFY clause.
You don't necessarily need to use a CTE, you can query the result set after using row_number()
select row, id, sales_person_id, product_type, product_id, sale_amount
from (
select
row_number() over(partition by sales_person_id,
product_type, product_id order by sale_amount desc) AS row,
id, sales_person_id, product_type, product_id, sale_amount
from Sales_Log
) a
where row = 1
It's an old thread, but I'll try to answer specifically the question expressed in the topic.
Why no windowed functions in where clauses?
SELECT statement has following main clauses specified in keyed-in order:
SELECT DISTINCT TOP list
FROM JOIN ON / APPLY / PIVOT / UNPIVOT
WHERE
GROUP BY WITH CUBE / WITH ROLLUP
HAVING
ORDER BY
OFFSET-FETCH
Logical Query Processing Order, or Binding Order, is conceptual interpretation order, it defines the correctness of the query. This order determines when the objects defined in one step are made available to the clauses in subsequent steps.
----- Relational result
1. FROM
1.1. ON JOIN / APPLY / PIVOT / UNPIVOT
2. WHERE
3. GROUP BY
3.1. WITH CUBE / WITH ROLLUP
4. HAVING
---- After the HAVING step the Underlying Query Result is ready
5. SELECT
5.1. SELECT list
5.2. DISTINCT
----- Relational result
----- Non-relational result (a cursor)
6. ORDER BY
7. TOP / OFFSET-FETCH
----- Non-relational result (a cursor)
For example, if the query processor can bind to (access) the tables or views defined in the FROM clause, these objects and their columns are made available to all subsequent steps.
Conversely, all clauses preceding the SELECT clause cannot reference any column aliases or derived columns defined in SELECT clause. However, those columns can be referenced by subsequent clauses such as the ORDER BY clause.
OVER clause determines the partitioning and ordering of a row set before the associated window function is applied. That is, the OVER clause defines a window or user-specified set of rows within an Underlying Query Result set and window function computes result against that window.
Msg 4108, Level 15, State 1, …
Windowed functions can only appear in the SELECT or ORDER BY clauses.
The reason behind is because the way how Logical Query Processing works in T-SQL. Since the underlying query result is established only when logical query processing reaches the SELECT step 5.1. (that is, after processing the FROM, WHERE, GROUP BY and HAVING steps), window functions are allowed only in the SELECT and ORDER BY clauses of the query.
Note to mention, window functions are still part of relational layer even Relational Model doesn't deal with ordered data. The result after the SELECT step 5.1. with any window function is still relational.
Also, speaking strictly, the reason why window function are not allowed in the WHERE clause is not because it would create ambiguity, but because the order how Logical Query Processing processes SELECT statement in T-SQL.
Links: here, here and here
Finally, there's the old-fashioned, pre-SQL Server 2005 way, with a correlated subquery:
select *
from Sales_Log sl
where sl.id = (
Select Top 1 id
from Sales_Log sl2
where sales_person_id = sl.sales_person_id
and product_type = sl.product_type
and product_id = sl.product_id
order by sale_amount desc
)
I give you this for completeness, merely.
Basically first "WHERE" clause condition is read by sql and the same column/value id looked into the table but in table row_num=1 is not there still. Hence it will not work.
Thats the reason we will use parentheses first and after that we will write the WHERE clause.
Yes unfortunately when you do a windowed function SQL gets mad at you even if your where predicate is legitimate. You make a cte or nested select having the value in your select statement, then reference your CTE or nested select with that value later. Simple example that should be self explanatory. If you really HATE cte's for some performance issue on doing a large data set you can always drop to temp table or table variable.
declare #Person table ( PersonID int identity, PersonName varchar(8));
insert into #Person values ('Brett'),('John');
declare #Orders table ( OrderID int identity, PersonID int, OrderName varchar(8));
insert into #Orders values (1, 'Hat'),(1,'Shirt'),(1, 'Shoes'),(2,'Shirt'),(2, 'Shoes');
--Select
-- p.PersonName
--, o.OrderName
--, row_number() over(partition by o.PersonID order by o.OrderID)
--from #Person p
-- join #Orders o on p.PersonID = o.PersonID
--where row_number() over(partition by o.PersonID order by o.orderID) = 2
-- yields:
--Msg 4108, Level 15, State 1, Line 15
--Windowed functions can only appear in the SELECT or ORDER BY clauses.
;
with a as
(
Select
p.PersonName
, o.OrderName
, row_number() over(partition by o.PersonID order by o.OrderID) as rnk
from #Person p
join #Orders o on p.PersonID = o.PersonID
)
select *
from a
where rnk >= 2 -- only orders after the first one.

Order by not working in Oracle subquery

I'm trying to return 7 events from a table, from todays date, and have them in date order:
SELECT ID
FROM table
where ID in (select ID from table
where DATEFIELD >= trunc(sysdate)
order by DATEFIELD ASC)
and rownum <= 7
If I remove the 'order by' it returns the IDs just fine and the query works, but it's not in the right order. Would appreciate any help with this since I can't seem to figure out what I'm doing wrong!
(edit) for clarification, I was using this before, and the order returned was really out:
select ID
from TABLE
where DATEFIELD >= trunc(sysdate)
and rownum <= 7
order by DATEFIELD
Thanks
The values for the ROWNUM "function" are applied before the ORDER BY is processed. That why it doesn't work the way you used it (See the manual for a similar explanation)
When limiting a query using ROWNUM and an ORDER BY is involved, the ordering must be done in an inner select and the limit must be applied in the outer select:
select *
from (
select *
from table
where datefield >= trunc(sysdate)
order by datefield ASC
)
where rownum <= 7
You cannot use order by in where id in (select id from ...) kind of subquery. It wouldn't make sense anyway. This condition only checks if id is in subquery. If it affects the order of output, it's only incidental. With different data query execution plan might be different and output order would be different as well. Use explicit order by at the end of the main query.
It is well known 'feature' of Oracle that rownum doesn't play nice with order by. See http://www.adp-gmbh.ch/ora/sql/examples/first_rows.html for more information. In your case you should use something like:
SELECT ID
FROM (select ID, row_number() over (order by DATEFIELD ) r
from table
where DATEFIELD >= trunc(sysdate))
WHERE r <= 7
See also:
http://www.orafaq.com/faq/how_does_one_select_the_top_n_rows_from_a_table
http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/issue-archive/2006/06-sep/o56asktom-086197.html
http://asktom.oracle.com/pls/asktom/f?p=100:11:507524690399301::::P11_QUESTION_ID:127412348064
See also other similar questions on SO, eg.:
Oracle SELECT TOP 10 records
Oracle/SQL - Select specified range of sequential records
Your outer query cant "see" the ORDER in the inner query and in this case the order in the inner doesn't make sense because it (the inner) is only being used to create a subset of data that will be used on the WHERE of the outer one, so the order of this subset doesn't matter.
maybe if you explain better what you want to do, we can help you
ORDER BY CLAUSE IN Subqueries:
the order by clause is not allowed inside a subquery, with the exception of the inline views. If attempt to include an ORDER BY clause, you receive an error message
An inline View is a query at the from clause.
SELECT t.*
FROM (SELECT id, name FROM student) t