Question

how to SELECT TOP 3 DISTINCT

Asked by: nab403

I am attempting to write an sql query to select the top 3 distinct scores from a table structured as follows:
ID          Score               User
1           10                    5
2            9                     3
3            10                   2
4            8                     8
5           6                      5
6           10                    4
7           9                      4
What I would like to do is query for the top 3 scores but I would like each score to be distinct.  For example, in the table above, I would like to have the Scores 10, 9, and 8 returned along with the first user to get that score.  So the returned results should be
ID    Score      user
10    10            5
2      9              3
4      8              8

How would I write such a query?

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Asked On
2008-09-01 at 14:39:24ID23694518
Tags

SQL

Topics

Databases Miscellaneous

,

MS SQL Server

Participating Experts
4
Points
500
Comments
6

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    Answers

     

    by: indianguru2Posted on 2008-09-01 at 15:07:30ID: 22363072

    Select distinct top 3 ID, Score, user

    from tablename

    order by score desc

     

    by: dportasPosted on 2008-09-01 at 15:16:19ID: 22363109

    Try this. I have assumed that ID is a candidate key and that it defines the ordering of "first user". With a question like this it helps a lot if you specify the key(s) of your table. Also, when you specify "first" you need to explain what determines the first row otherwise we have to guess. Tables have no inherent order.

    SELECT TOP (3) ID, Score, [User]
    FROM
     (SELECT ID, Score, [User],
     ROW_NUMBER() OVER (PARTITION BY Score ORDER BY ID) rn
     FROM tbl) t
    WHERE rn = 1
    ORDER BY Score DESC ;

     

    by: acperkinsPosted on 2008-09-01 at 17:01:54ID: 22363416

    Here us another approach (which you can also use in SQL Server 2000):

    Select      Top 3
                t.ID,
                t.Score,      
                t.[User]
    From      YourTable t
                Inner Join (
                            Select      MIN(t.ID) FirstID,
                                        Score,
                                        [User]
                            From      YourTable
                            Group By
                                        Score,
                                        [User]) d On t.ID = d.FirstID
                                                          And t.Score = d.Score
                                                          And t.[User] = d.[User]
    Order By
                t.Score desc

     

    by: ScottPletcherPosted on 2008-09-02 at 08:41:40ID: 22368317

    This code will also work in either SQL 2000 or 2005:

    SELECT tn.ID, tnMin.Score, tn.[User]
    FROM tablename tn
    INNER JOIN (
    SELECT TOP 3 Score, MIN(ID) AS MinID
    FROM tablename
    GROUP BY Score
    ORDER BY Score DESC
    ) AS tnMin ON tnMin.Score = tn.Score AND tnMin.MinID = tn.ID
    ORDER BY tnMin.Score DESC

    20120131-EE-VQP-002

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