Question

ORA-00937: not a single-group group function

Asked by: billprew

I can't seem to find a way to fashion a query to do something that feels pretty simple.  I have created some test data and queries in the attached code that demonstrate the problem.  In this simple case, I have a table with a KEY column, and a VAL column.  I want to build a query that returns a single row showing the KEY that has the smallest SUM of it's VAL's.

When I took my first shot at it I got the ORA-00937 error.  So I tried to work around that with two nested queries, but that returns more than one row.  My desired result would be a single row showing the a KEY of "A" and having a total VAL of 30.

~bp

-- Create table for testing
CREATE TABLE T1
(
  KEY  VARCHAR2(10 CHAR),
  VAL  INTEGER
);
 
Table created.
 
 
-- Add some test data
INSERT INTO T1 (KEY, VAL) VALUES ('A', 10);
1 row created.
INSERT INTO T1 (KEY, VAL) VALUES ('A', 20);
1 row created.
INSERT INTO T1 (KEY, VAL) VALUES ('B', 30);
1 row created.
INSERT INTO T1 (KEY, VAL) VALUES ('B', 40);
1 row created.
COMMIT;
Commit complete.
 
 
-- Display all data in table
SELECT * FROM T1;
 
KEY               VAL
---------- ----------
A                  10
A                  20
B                  30
B                  40
4 rows selected.
 
 
-- Display sums of VAL by KEY
SELECT KEY, SUM(VAL) FROM T1 GROUP BY KEY;
 
KEY          SUM(VAL)
---------- ----------
A                  30
B                  70
 
 
-- Try to find KEY with smallest SUM
SELECT KEY, MIN(SUM(VAL)) FROM T1 GROUP BY KEY;
 
SELECT KEY, MIN(SUM(VAL)) FROM T1 GROUP BY KEY
       *
Error at line 1
ORA-00937: not a single-group group function
 
 
-- Alternative nested query approach
SELECT T2.KEY, MIN(T2.TOT) MIN FROM (SELECT KEY, SUM(VAL) TOT FROM T1 GROUP BY KEY) T2 GROUP BY T2.KEY;
 
KEY               MIN
---------- ----------
A                  30
B                  70
2 rows selected.

                                  
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Asked On
2009-09-07 at 07:51:16ID24712759
Tags

ORACLE

,

SQL

Topics

Oracle Database

,

SQL Query Syntax

Participating Experts
4
Points
250
Comments
13

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Answers

 

by: ravindran_eeePosted on 2009-09-07 at 08:01:03ID: 25275488

I think the below query will work

select key, val from t1 where
val = (select min(val) from t1)

You might have to add DISTINCT clause in sub query if there are going to be duplicate values for VAL (like A,10 and B,10)

 

by: ravindran_eeePosted on 2009-09-07 at 08:02:25ID: 25275502

select key, val from t1 where val  =
(select min(sum_val) from
(SELECT KEY, SUM(VAL) sum_val FROM T1 GROUP BY KEY))

Sorry! Try the above query

 

by: billprewPosted on 2009-09-07 at 08:05:37ID: 25275531

=> ravindran_eee

Your last suggestion does not work, it returns the attached, which is not what I need.

~bp

KEY               VAL
---------- ----------
B                  30
1 row selected.

                                              
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by: shru_0409Posted on 2009-09-07 at 08:11:16ID: 25275566

select a.key, min(a.val)
from (SELECT KEY, SUM(VAL) val FROM T1 GROUP BY KEY) a
group by a.key

 

by: ravindran_eeePosted on 2009-09-07 at 08:18:16ID: 25275609

select key,sumval from
(select key,sumval,ROW_NUMBER () over (order by sumval) sortrank from
(select key,sum(val) sumval from t1
group by key))
where sortrank = 1

Sorry! My brain does not work when Oracle is offline :-))

I think the above query should work. Am adding row number to the result (after sorting by sum of val field) and selecting the first record alone

 

by: billprewPosted on 2009-09-07 at 08:18:29ID: 25275614

=> shru_0409

You gave me back exactly what I provided as the last failed attempt in my original posting, am I missing something.  This approach returns 2 rows rather than one, which is not what I need.

~bp

 

by: shru_0409Posted on 2009-09-07 at 08:26:13ID: 25275668

SELECT T2.KEY, MIN(T2.TOT) MIN FROM (SELECT KEY, SUM(VAL) TOT FROM T1 GROUP BY KEY) T2
where rownum = 1
GROUP BY T2.KEY;

 

by: kadabaPosted on 2009-09-07 at 08:42:34ID: 25275782

Hi,

@shru

I inserted two more value and tested, It dint give the correct value, Just check once.

Thanks.

INSERT INTO T1 (KEY, VAL) VALUES ('D', 5);
 
INSERT INTO T1 (KEY, VAL) VALUES ('E', 2);
                                              
1:
2:
3:

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by: awking00Posted on 2009-09-07 at 08:44:55ID: 25275797

See attached.

 

by: shru_0409Posted on 2009-09-07 at 08:45:20ID: 25275799

SELECT T2.KEY, MIN(T2.TOT) MIN FROM (SELECT KEY, SUM(VAL) TOT FROM T1 GROUP BY KEY order by key asc) T2
where rownum = 1
GROUP BY T2.KEY;

i forgot the order clause..... the query is right...

 

by: kadabaPosted on 2009-09-07 at 08:50:59ID: 25275832

Hi Shru,

If you are confident fine.

Agree with "awking00"

 

by: shru_0409Posted on 2009-09-07 at 08:58:53ID: 25275885

if he require minimun value than order by should be min column.....

SELECT T2.KEY, MIN(T2.TOT) MIN FROM (SELECT KEY, SUM(VAL) TOT FROM T1 GROUP BY KEY order by MIN(T2.TOT) asc ) T2
where rownum = 1
GROUP BY T2.KEY;

 

by: billprewPosted on 2009-09-07 at 09:10:15ID: 31625716

First solution did seem to work, but the second solution seemed a bit cleaner and easier to follow.  Thanks all.

~bp

20120131-EE-VQP-002

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