SQL Create a new table from a table with a unique combination of two colums

Hi

I have a table called "MARA_MBEW3" that has two columns called ValA and Article. I tried to add a primary key
that combines the two columns Article and  [ValA] using the SQL syntax below but got the error further down
I now want to create a new table that chops out any records that have a duplicate of these two records. How do I do this

ALTER TABLE MARA_MBEW3
ADD CONSTRAINT pk_MARA_MBEW3 PRIMARY KEY (Article, [ValA])
GO

Msg 1505, Level 16, State 1, Line 1
The CREATE UNIQUE INDEX statement terminated because a duplicate key was found for the object name 'Siris1.MARA_MBEW3' and the index name 'pk_MARA_MBEW3'. The duplicate key value is (EI14528, C921).
Msg 1750, Level 16, State 0, Line 1
Could not create constraint. See previous errors.
The statement has been terminated.
Murray BrownMicrosoft Cloud Azure/Excel Solution DeveloperAsked:
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Jim HornSQL Server Data DudeCommented: 
DELETE 
FROM MARA_MBEW3 m
  JOIN (
      SELECT ValA, Article
      FROM YourTable
      GROUP BY ValA, Article
      HAVING COUNT(Article) > 1) dups ON m.ValA = dups.ValA AND m.Article = dups.Article

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btw Might not be a bad idea to INSERT these into some kind of backup table, if for some reason you need them later.

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chaauCommented:
To create a new table without duplicates you can use the following statement:
with cte as (SELECT *, ROW_NUMBER() OVER(PARTITION BY ValA, Article) AS rn from MARA_MBEW3
)
SELECT * INTO newTable FROM cte WHERE rn = 1

Open in new window

If you wish to store the duplicate records for later analysis use this statement:
with cte as (SELECT *, ROW_NUMBER() OVER(PARTITION BY ValA, Article) AS rn from MARA_MBEW3
)
SELECT * INTO dupsTable FROM cte WHERE rn > 1

Open in new window

Roger AlcindorCommented:
I may have misunderstood your question but would the following do the job ?

SELECT distinct ValA, Article
INTO NEWTABLE
from MARA_MBEW3
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Murray BrownMicrosoft Cloud Azure/Excel Solution DeveloperAuthor Commented:
Thanks Jim
I tried the following and got the error below
DELETE
FROM MARA_MBEW3 m
  JOIN (
      SELECT ValA, Article
      FROM m
      GROUP BY ValA, Article
      HAVING COUNT(Article) > 1) dups ON m.ValA = dups.ValA AND m.Article = dups.Article


Msg 102, Level 15, State 1, Line 2
Incorrect syntax near 'm'.
Msg 102, Level 15, State 1, Line 7
Incorrect syntax near 'dups'
chaauCommented:
I hope you are taking the database backup. If you run Jim's query (by inserting m after the DELETE keyword) you will end up whit a table without the duplicate records. However, there where you had 2 duplicate records will be none. I assume you want to keep at least one record for each duplicate entries
Murray BrownMicrosoft Cloud Azure/Excel Solution DeveloperAuthor Commented:
Thanks
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Microsoft SQL Server

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