SQL - order result set when using union

jagr12
jagr12 used Ask the Experts™
on
When using union all, how can I order result set of how it gets displayed?  For example

Right now it returned

Descripton    SalesType        Customercode  Jan      Feb       Mar       Apr      May      Jun      Jul      Aug      Oct      Nov      Dec      Total
Sale            Direct             1             $          $      $
Manager            Resell             1             $          $      $
Inter            Extr             1             $          $      $
Exter            EU             1             $          $      $

I want to return like or any order of result set

Descripton    SalesType        Customercode  Jan      Feb       Mar       Apr      May      Jun      Jul      Aug      Oct      Nov      Dec      Total


Inter            Extr             1             $          $      $
Exter            EU             1             $          $      $
Manager            Resell             1             $          $      $
Sale            Direct             1             $          $      $


Table sample

column names

Descripton    SalesType        Customercode  Jan      Feb       Mar       Apr      May      Jun      Jul      Aug      Oct      Nov      Dec      Total


select *from
(
select * from #temp_table1
union all
select * from #temp_table2
union all
select * from #temp_table3
union all
select * from #temp_table4


a group by Descripton,SalesType,Customercode,Jan,Feb ,Mar Apr,May,Jun,Jul,Aug,Oct,Nov,Dec,Total
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SQL Server Data Dude
Most Valuable Expert 2013
Author of the Year 2015
Commented:
To pull off a customized ordering you'll need to include an ORDER BY with a CASE block, like this..
<total air code, look at the last line>
select * from (
   select * from #temp_table1
   union all 
   select * from #temp_table2
   union all 
   select * from #temp_table3
   union all 
   select * from #temp_table4) a
group by Descripton,SalesType,Customercode,Jan,Feb ,Mar Apr,May,Jun,Jul,Aug,Oct,Nov,Dec,Total
ORDER BY CASE Descripton 
   WHEN 'Inter' THEN 1 
   WHEN 'Exter' THEN 2 
   WHEN 'Manager' THEN 3 
   WHEN 'Sale' THEN 4 
   ELSE 5 END

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For a tutorial on CASE blocks check out SQL Server CASE Solutions.
jagr12

Author

Commented:
Jim,
Thank you very much. This is exactly what I need.

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