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Finding Most Recent of 3 Dates in SQL Query

I have a query where I need to return the most recent date when comparing 3 fields (garn.BGARNDT, garn.WGARNDT, tax.TGARNDT).

I do not want to display 'NULL' as a response if all are blank
There is a chance were dates between fields may be the same

Code is attached...right now my query outputs all 3 fields
QuerySyntax.txt

SOLUTION

Olaf Doschke

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sparker1970

ASKER

Thanks for the quick response.

A couple of issues:

1 I need the most recent date...not the oldest.

2 The formula fails when either BGARNDT or WGARNDT is null. If BGARNDT is null, WGARNDT = 01/07/2016, and TGARNDT = 11/24/2015, your query syntax is returning 11/24/2015. I think this is because of the null value in BGARNDT.

Here is code I wrote to get around the issue of nulls. I was hoping there was a more simple way to write this but your use of CASE tells me there may not be:

'LAST GARN DATE' = CASE
            when garn.BGARNDT IS null and garn.WGARNDT IS null and tax.TGARNDT IS null then ''
            when garn.BGARNDT IS null and garn.WGARNDT IS null and tax.TGARNDT IS not null then CONVERT(VARCHAR,tax.TGARNDT,101)
            when garn.BGARNDT IS null and garn.WGARNDT IS not null and tax.TGARNDT IS null then convert(varchar,garn.WGARNDT,101)
            when garn.BGARNDT IS not null and garn.WGARNDT IS null and tax.TGARNDT IS null then convert(varchar,garn.BGARNDT,101)
            when garn.BGARNDT IS null and garn.WGARNDT IS NOT null and tax.TGARNDT IS not null AND tax.TGARNDT > garn.WGARNDT THEN CONVERT(VARCHAR,tax.TGARNDT,101)
            when garn.BGARNDT IS NOT null and garn.WGARNDT IS null and tax.TGARNDT IS not null AND tax.TGARNDT > garn.BGARNDT THEN CONVERT(VARCHAR,tax.TGARNDT,101)
            when garn.BGARNDT IS null and garn.WGARNDT IS NOT null and tax.TGARNDT IS not null AND tax.TGARNDT < garn.WGARNDT THEN convert(varchar,garn.WGARNDT,101)
            when garn.BGARNDT IS NOT null and garn.WGARNDT IS null and tax.TGARNDT IS not null AND tax.TGARNDT < garn.BGARNDT THEN convert(varchar,garn.BGARNDT,101)
            when garn.BGARNDT IS null and garn.WGARNDT IS NOT null and tax.TGARNDT IS not null AND tax.TGARNDT > garn.WGARNDT THEN CONVERT(VARCHAR,tax.TGARNDT,101)
            when garn.BGARNDT IS NOT null and garn.WGARNDT IS null and tax.TGARNDT IS not null AND tax.TGARNDT > garn.BGARNDT THEN CONVERT(VARCHAR,tax.TGARNDT,101)
            when garn.BGARNDT IS null and garn.WGARNDT IS NOT null and tax.TGARNDT IS not null AND tax.TGARNDT < garn.WGARNDT THEN convert(varchar,garn.WGARNDT,101)
            when garn.BGARNDT IS NOT null and garn.WGARNDT IS null and tax.TGARNDT IS not null AND tax.TGARNDT < garn.BGARNDT THEN convert(varchar,garn.BGARNDT,101)
            when garn.BGARNDT IS null and garn.WGARNDT IS not null and tax.TGARNDT IS null then convert(varchar,garn.WGARNDT,101)
            when garn.BGARNDT IS not null and garn.WGARNDT IS null and tax.TGARNDT IS null then convert(varchar,garn.BGARNDT,101)
            WHEN garn.BGARNDT > garn.WGARNDT and garn.BGARNDT > tax.TGARNDT then convert(varchar,garn.BGARNDT,101)
            WHEN garn.WGARNDT > garn.BGARNDT and garn.WGARNDT > tax.TGARNDT then convert(varchar,garn.WGARNDT,101)
            when tax.TGARNDT > garn.BGARNDT and tax.TGARNDT > garn.WGARNDT then CONVERT(VARCHAR,tax.TGARNDT,101)
            end,

ASKER CERTIFIED SOLUTION

Olaf Doschke

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