Help with distinct + sort order

"Francis" wrote in message

> Hi
>
> I've the following set of un-normalised records.
> SortID Customer
> 1 ccc
> 2 ccc
> 3 aaa
> 4 aaa
> 5 bbb
> 6 bbb
>
> I need to perform a select which will return distinct Customer name while
> maintaining the sort order.
> How can i achieve this using just Stored procedures?
>
> Many thanks in advance!
>
> Regards,
> Francis
>

Try the following. Depending on your data you could get a different sort
order if you use MAX(SortId) instead of MIN(SortId). That's not the case
with your sample but it could be relevant if you have other data. Whether
MIN or MAX is more appropriate may depend on what you mean by "maintaining
the sort order".

CREATE TABLE tbl (SortId INT NOT NULL PRIMARY KEY, Customer CHAR(3) NOT
NULL);

INSERT INTO tbl VALUES (1, 'ccc');
INSERT INTO tbl VALUES (2, 'ccc');
INSERT INTO tbl VALUES (3, 'aaa');
INSERT INTO tbl VALUES (4, 'aaa');
INSERT INTO tbl VALUES (5, 'bbb');
INSERT INTO tbl VALUES (6, 'bbb');

SELECT Customer
FROM tbl
GROUP BY Customer
ORDER BY MIN(SortId);


Hope this helps.

--
David Portas
 >> Stay informed about: Help with distinct + sort order 

Here is one way:

SELECT Customer
FROM Customers
GROUP BY Customer
ORDER BY MIN(SortId)

HTH,

Plamen Ratchev
http://www.SQLStudio.com
 >> Stay informed about: Help with distinct + sort order 

Oops, typo:

select
min (SortID) SortID
, Customer
from
Customers
group by
Customer
order by
SortID


--
Tom

----------------------------------------------------
Thomas A. Moreau, BSc, PhD, MCSE, MCDBA, MCITP, MCTS
SQL Server MVP
Toronto, ON Canada
https://mvp.support.microsoft.com/profile/Tom.Moreau


"Tom Moreau" wrote in message

Try:

select
min (SortID) SortID
, Customer
from
Customers
order by
SortID

--
Tom

----------------------------------------------------
Thomas A. Moreau, BSc, PhD, MCSE, MCDBA, MCITP, MCTS
SQL Server MVP
Toronto, ON Canada
https://mvp.support.microsoft.com/profile/Tom.Moreau


"Francis" wrote in message

Hi

I've the following set of un-normalised records.
SortID Customer
1 ccc
2 ccc
3 aaa
4 aaa
5 bbb
6 bbb

I need to perform a select which will return distinct Customer name while
maintaining the sort order.
How can i achieve this using just Stored procedures?

Many thanks in advance!

Regards,
Francis
 >> Stay informed about: Help with distinct + sort order 

Hi all

Thanks very much for the help!
Works like magic.

Regards,
Francis

"Plamen Ratchev" wrote in message

> Here is one way:
>
> SELECT Customer
> FROM Customers
> GROUP BY Customer
> ORDER BY MIN(SortId)
>
> HTH,
>
> Plamen Ratchev
> http://www.SQLStudio.com
 >> Stay informed about: Help with distinct + sort order