Restructure SQL Query To Use Column Alias in GROUP BY

If you don't want to use your CASE in the ORDER BY, then you should be able to do that with a subquery:

select X.* FROM (
SELECT 
	case 
		when ASC_BR.dbo.MthEndInvtDivVend.Division between 10 and 19 then '10'
		when ASC_BR.dbo.MthEndInvtDivVend.Division between 20 and 29 then '20'
		when ASC_BR.dbo.MthEndInvtDivVend.Division between 30 and 39 then '30'
		when ASC_BR.dbo.MthEndInvtDivVend.Division between 40 and 49 then '40'
		when ASC_BR.dbo.MthEndInvtDivVend.Division between 50 and 59 then '50'
		else
			ASC_BR.dbo.MthEndInvtDivVend.Division
	end as divi,
	ASC_BR.dbo.VENDOR.Name,
	ASC_BR.dbo.MthEndInvtDivVend.VendorNum,
	round(abs(sum(ASC_BR.dbo.mthendSalesDivVend.SalesRtl)/AVG(nullif(invcost,0))),2) as turn,
	round(AVG(NULLIF(ASC_BR.dbo.MthEndInvtDivVend.InvCost,0)),0) as InvCost,
	SUM(ASC_BR.dbo.mthendSalesDivVend.SalesRtl) as SalesRtl,
	SUM(ASC_BR.dbo.mthendSalesDivVend.SalesCost) as SalesCost,
	avg(nullif(ASC_BR.dbo.MthEndInvtDivVend.OHQty,0)) as QtyOH,
	sum(ASC_BR.dbo.mthendSalesDivVend.SalesQty) as SlsQty,
	sum(salesrtl)-sum(salescost) as GM$,
	round((sum(salesrtl)-sum(salescost))/nullif(sum(salesrtl),0)*100,2)
	from ASC_BR.dbo.MTHENDINVTDIVVEND
	left outer join ASC_BR.dbo.VENDOR on ASC_BR.dbo.VENDOR.VendorNum=ASC_BR.dbo.MTHENDINVTDIVVEND.Vendornum
	left outer join ASC_BR.dbo.MthEndSalesDivVend on 
		ASC_BR.dbo.mthendSalesDivVend.Division=ASC_BR.dbo.MTHENDINVTDIVVEND.Division and
		ASC_BR.dbo.mthendSalesDivVend.VendorNum=ASC_BR.dbo.MTHENDINVTDIVVEND.VendorNum and
		ASC_BR.dbo.mthendSalesDivVend.YearMth=ASC_BR.dbo.MTHENDINVTDIVVEND.YearMth
	where left(ASC_BR.dbo.MTHENDINVTDIVVEND.Division,1) in ('1','2','3','4','5','6')
	and asc_br.dbo.MTHENDINVTDIVVEND.YearMth>=convert(char(4),year(DATEADD(month,-12,GETDATE())))+right('00'+convert(varchar(2),month(DATEADD(month,-12,GETDATE()))),2)
	and asc_br.dbo.MTHENDINVTDIVVEND.YearMth<=convert(char(4),year(DATEADD(month,0,GETDATE())))+right('00'+convert(varchar(2),month(DATEADD(month,-1,GETDATE()))),2)
	group by divi,ASC_BR.dbo.MTHENDINVTDIVVEND.Vendornum,ASC_BR.dbo.VENDOR.NAME 
) X
	order by Name,divi

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The problem I'm getting is with the GROUP BY statement.  The query that you replied with still gave me an "invalid column name 'divi'" in the GROUP BY statement.  So I tried to pull it outside of the secondary select statement as follows:

select X.* FROM (
SELECT 
	case 
		when ASC_BR.dbo.MthEndInvtDivVend.Division between 10 and 19 then '10'
		when ASC_BR.dbo.MthEndInvtDivVend.Division between 20 and 29 then '20'
		when ASC_BR.dbo.MthEndInvtDivVend.Division between 30 and 39 then '30'
		when ASC_BR.dbo.MthEndInvtDivVend.Division between 40 and 49 then '40'
		when ASC_BR.dbo.MthEndInvtDivVend.Division between 50 and 59 then '50'
		else
			ASC_BR.dbo.MthEndInvtDivVend.Division
	end as divi,
	ASC_BR.dbo.VENDOR.Name as vname,
	ASC_BR.dbo.MthEndInvtDivVend.VendorNum as vnum,
	round(abs(sum(ASC_BR.dbo.mthendSalesDivVend.SalesRtl)/AVG(nullif(invcost,0))),2) as turn,
	round(AVG(NULLIF(ASC_BR.dbo.MthEndInvtDivVend.InvCost,0)),0) as InvCost,
	SUM(ASC_BR.dbo.mthendSalesDivVend.SalesRtl) as SalesRtl,
	SUM(ASC_BR.dbo.mthendSalesDivVend.SalesCost) as SalesCost,
	avg(nullif(ASC_BR.dbo.MthEndInvtDivVend.OHQty,0)) as QtyOH,
	sum(ASC_BR.dbo.mthendSalesDivVend.SalesQty) as SlsQty,
	sum(salesrtl)-sum(salescost) as GM$,
	round((sum(salesrtl)-sum(salescost))/nullif(sum(salesrtl),0)*100,2) as GMPct
	from ASC_BR.dbo.MTHENDINVTDIVVEND
	left outer join ASC_BR.dbo.VENDOR on ASC_BR.dbo.VENDOR.VendorNum=ASC_BR.dbo.MTHENDINVTDIVVEND.Vendornum
	left outer join ASC_BR.dbo.MthEndSalesDivVend on 
		ASC_BR.dbo.mthendSalesDivVend.Division=ASC_BR.dbo.MTHENDINVTDIVVEND.Division and
		ASC_BR.dbo.mthendSalesDivVend.VendorNum=ASC_BR.dbo.MTHENDINVTDIVVEND.VendorNum and
		ASC_BR.dbo.mthendSalesDivVend.YearMth=ASC_BR.dbo.MTHENDINVTDIVVEND.YearMth
	where left(ASC_BR.dbo.MTHENDINVTDIVVEND.Division,1) in ('1','2','3','4','5','6')
	and asc_br.dbo.MTHENDINVTDIVVEND.YearMth>=convert(char(4),year(DATEADD(month,-12,GETDATE())))+right('00'+convert(varchar(2),month(DATEADD(month,-12,GETDATE()))),2)
	and asc_br.dbo.MTHENDINVTDIVVEND.YearMth<=convert(char(4),year(DATEADD(month,0,GETDATE())))+right('00'+convert(varchar(2),month(DATEADD(month,-1,GETDATE()))),2)
	
) X
	group by divi,vnum,vname 
	order by vName,divi

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I now get the following error message from the inside SELECT statement:

Column 'ASC_BR.dbo.MTHENDINVTDIVVEND.Division' is invalid in the select list because it is not contained in either an aggregate function or the GROUP BY clause.

So sorry, I misread the question. Because your aggregate functions are in the sub-select, your GROUP BY has to stay there.

That is so far over my head, but thank you!!!

Scott, just read your comment. That's nice!

Thanks!

What's really super sweet is that the "alias" from one ca can be used in a subsequent ca.  So you can have cascading "aliases"!

The example below is not practical, of course, it just shows what's possible:


SELECT
    ca1.table_origin,
    ca2.table_code,
    o.*
FROM sys.objects o
CROSS APPLY (
    SELECT CASE WHEN o.type = 'S' THEN 'System' ELSE 'User' END AS table_origin
) AS ca1
CROSS APPLY (
    SELECT CASE WHEN table_origin = 'System' THEN 1 ELSE 2 END AS table_code
) AS ca2
WHERE
    o.type IN ( 'S', 'U' )
ORDER BY
    NEWID() --randomly intermingle Sys and User tables

no points please:

Absolutely in agreement with Scott, cross apply provides a very neat alternative.

However just so that the 'old fashioned' way isn't lost to sight, you can simply repeat the case expression in the group by clause so your group by could have been:

GROUP BY
        case 
		when ASC_BR.dbo.MthEndInvtDivVend.Division between 10 and 19 then '10'
		when ASC_BR.dbo.MthEndInvtDivVend.Division between 20 and 29 then '20'
		when ASC_BR.dbo.MthEndInvtDivVend.Division between 30 and 39 then '30'
		when ASC_BR.dbo.MthEndInvtDivVend.Division between 40 and 49 then '40'
		when ASC_BR.dbo.MthEndInvtDivVend.Division between 50 and 59 then '50'
		else
			ASC_BR.dbo.MthEndInvtDivVend.Division
	end
      , ASC_BR.dbo.MTHENDINVTDIVVEND.Vendornum
      , ASC_BR.dbo.VENDOR.Name
ORDER BY
        Name, divi

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Traditionally column aliases aren't available until the order by clause - as Scott demonstrates cross apply (or outer apply) breaks with that tradition.