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Query required

Hi Experts,

I have an Access database containing the table tblAuctionBids, the fields are as follows:

Description (description of the item being bid on)
BidTime (date/time a bid was received)
CloseTime (date/time the auction closes)
BidAmount (amount being bid)

I need a query that will return rows of opening bids on all currently active auctions. By opening bid I mean the first/earliest bid taken on an item and by currently active auctions I mean auctions that have not closed yet. Thanks.

pdebaets

Try this:

SELECT Q.Description, Q.BidAmount
FROM tblAuctionBids As Q INNER JOIN
        (SELECT Description, Min(Bidtime) As MinBidTime
         FROM tblAuctionBids
         GROUP BY Description)  As T
        ON Q.Description=T.Description AND Q.BidTime = T.MinBidTime AND Q.CloseTime < Now();

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DColin

ASKER

pdebaets:

I get the error message 'Join expression not supported'. Is this an Access problem?

Bill Ross

Hi,

Post a sample of your database and I'll show you how. It does not appear that you have a primary key in your table.

Regards,

Bill

Theo Kouwenhoven

SELECT Description, BidAmount, Min(BidTime)
FROM tblAuctionBids
Where CloseTime = 0
Order by BidTime

DColin

ASKER

murphey2,

I am getting the error message:

You tried to execute a query that does not include the specified expression 'Description' as part of an aggregate function.

When I run your query. It seems to be Min(BidTime) that is causing the problem because when I remove the BidTime references it will run without error.

DColin

ASKER

BillDenver,

Here is my test db. I do not have a primary key.
Auction.mdb

Bill Ross

Hi,

See attached.

The OpenBidsQ gets the time of the last bid for Open Bids. This query is used in MaxOpenBidQ to get the actual bid that matches the time.

Regards,

Bill
Auction1.mdb

Bill Ross

Hi,

BTW - it's good practice to put a primary key in ALL access tables. You can use a counter (Autonumber) field.

Best regards,

Bill

DColin

ASKER

BillDenver,

Thanks for your reply. I need the first bid for all open auctions not the last bid.

I am using Visual Basic to query the database and use the sql query to populate a DataTable object. Does your solution provide me with an sql query?

pdebaets

Thanks for the file. This should work:

SELECT Q.Description, Q.BidAmount
FROM tblAuctionBids As Q INNER JOIN
        (SELECT Description, Min(Bidtime) As MinBidTime
         FROM tblAuctionBids
         GROUP BY Description)  As T
        ON Q.Description=T.Description AND Q.BidTime = T.MinBidTime WHERE Q.CloseTime < Now();

Open in new window

DColin

ASKER

Apologies there is an entry error in the in the test database, attached is the correct db.
Auction.mdb

DColin

ASKER

pdebaets

Apologies there is an error in the test db. Please see my previous post for the corrected db.

My test db contains 3 auctions, two current and one expired. When I run your query I get one current and one expired auction returned rather that two current.

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pdebaets

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DColin

ASKER

pdebaets,

It now returns only one of the two current auctions.

pdebaets

There is only one auction open. The one with the description "B221".

DColin

ASKER

You're correct sorry about that.