SQL Server - Multiple Select with Duplicate Names - sql

Question

I'm trying to grab some data from my SQL database as below;
USE exampleDatabase
SELECT TOP(1) [Name] FROM [Peeps] ORDER BY [Weight] DESC
SELECT TOP(1) [Name] FROM [Peeps] ORDER BY [Age] DESC
The problem is when I read the data I get an error 'Name'.
Dim byWeight As String = sqlReader.GetValue(sqlReader.GetOrdinal("Name"))
Dim byAge As String = sqlReader.GetValue(sqlReader.GetOrdinal("Name"))
How would I read this data as above considering I can't use name twice?

Answer 1

I think you are missing a semi-colon after the first SELECT statement. Here's a sample app I put together (note the semicolon in my sql statement):
var sql = "Select TOP 1 name from sys.columns;"
+ "Select TOP 1 name from sys.objects";
var firstname = string.Empty;
var secondname = string.Empty;
var connString = ConfigurationManager.ConnectionStrings["Test"].ConnectionString;
using ( var conn = new SqlConnection( connString ) )
{
conn.Open();
using ( var cmd = new SqlCommand( sql, conn ) )
{
var reader = cmd.ExecuteReader();
if ( reader == null )
return;
if ( reader.Read() )
firstname = reader.GetString( reader.GetOrdinal( "Name" ) );
reader.NextResult();
if ( reader.Read() )
secondname = reader.GetString( reader.GetOrdinal( "Name" ) );
}
}
Response.Write( firstname + "<br />" );
Response.Write( secondname + "<br />" );
You can achieve the same goal as the semi-colon by using the "GO keyword like so:
var sql = "Select TOP (1) name from sys.columns GO "
+ "Select TOP (1) name from sys.objects";

Answer 2

You can use the 'as' keyword to rename columns in your results, like so:
SELECT TOP(1) [Name] AS ByWeight FROM [Peeps] ORDER BY [Weight] DESC

Answer 3

hmmm... well you could make it one select statement....
USE exampleDatabase
SELECT W.[Name] AS W_Name, A.[Name] AS A_Name FROM
(SELECT TOP(1) [Name] FROM [Peeps] ORDER BY [Weight] DESC) W
JOIN (SELECT TOP(1) [Name] FROM [Peeps] ORDER BY [Age] DESC) A

Answer 4

What if you UNION your SQL together into one result set?
USE exampleDatabase
SELECT TOP(1) [Name] FROM [Peeps] ORDER BY [Weight] DESC
UNION ALL
SELECT TOP(1) [Name] FROM [Peeps] ORDER BY [Age] DESC