Related
I can't replace every 2 characters of a string with a '.'
select STUFF('abcdefghi', 3, 1, '.') c3,STUFF('abcdefghi', 5, 1,
'.') c5,STUFF('abcdefghi', 7, 1, '.') c7,STUFF('abcdefghi', 9, 1, '.')
c9
if I use STUFF I should subsequently overlap the strings c3, c5, c7 and c9. but I can't find a method
can you help me?
initial string:
abcdefghi
the result I would like is
ab.de.gh.
the string can be up to 50 characters
Create a numbers / tally / digits table, if you don't have one already, then you can use this to target each character position:
with digits as ( /* This would be a real table, here it's just to test */
select n from (values(1),(2),(3),(4),(5),(6),(7),(8),(9),(10))x(n)
), t as (
select 'abcdefghi' as s
)
select String_Agg( case when d.n%3 = 0 then '.' else Substring(t.s, d.n, 1) end, '')
from t
cross apply digits d
where d.n <Len(t.s)
Using for xml with existing table
with digits as (
select n from (values(1),(2),(3),(4),(5),(6),(7),(8),(9),(10))x(n)
),
r as (
select t.id, case when d.n%3=0 then '.' else Substring(t.s, d.n, 1) end ch
from t
cross apply digits d
where d.n <Len(t.s)
)
select result=(select '' + ch
from r r2
where r2.id=r.id
for xml path('')
)
from r
group by r.id
You can try it like this:
Easiest might be a quirky update ike here:
DECLARE #string VARCHAR(100)='abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz';
SELECT #string = STUFF(#string,3*A.pos,1,'.')
FROM (SELECT TOP(LEN(#string)/3) ROW_NUMBER() OVER(ORDER BY (SELECT NULL))
FROM master..spt_values) A(pos);
SELECT #string;
Better/Cleaner/Prettier was a recursive CTE:
We use a declared table to have some tabular sample data
DECLARE #tbl TABLE(ID INT IDENTITY, SomeString VARCHAR(200));
INSERT INTO #tbl VALUES('')
,('a')
,('ab')
,('abc')
,('abcd')
,('abcde')
,('abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz');
--the query
WITH recCTE AS
(
SELECT ID
,SomeString
,(LEN(SomeString)+1)/3 AS CountDots
,1 AS OccuranceOfDot
,SUBSTRING(SomeString,4,LEN(SomeString)) AS RestString
,CAST(LEFT(SomeString,2) AS VARCHAR(MAX)) AS Growing
FROM #tbl
UNION ALL
SELECT t.ID
,r.SomeString
,r.CountDots
,r.OccuranceOfDot+2
,SUBSTRING(RestString,4,LEN(RestString))
,CONCAT(Growing,'.',LEFT(r.RestString,2))
FROM #tbl t
INNER JOIN recCTE r ON t.ID=r.ID
WHERE r.OccuranceOfDot/2<r.CountDots-1
)
SELECT TOP 1 WITH TIES ID,Growing
FROM recCTE
ORDER BY ROW_NUMBER() OVER(PARTITION BY ID ORDER BY OccuranceOfDot DESC);
--the result
1
2 a
3 ab
4 ab
5 ab
6 ab.de
7 ab.de.gh.jk.mn.pq.st.vw.yz
The idea in short
We use a recursive CTE to walk along the string
we add the needed portion together with a dot
We stop, when the remaining length is to short to continue
a little magic is the ORDER BY ROW_NUMBER() OVER() together with TOP 1 WITH TIES. This will allow all first rows (frist per ID) to appear.
I have a table with unstructured data I am trying to analyze to try to build a relational lookup. I do not have use of word cloud software.
I really have no idea how to solve this problem. Searching for solutions has lead me to tools that might do this for me that cost money, not coded solutions.
Basically my data looks like this:
CK1 CK2 Comment
--------------------------------------------------------------
1 A This is a comment.
2 A Another comment here.
And this is what I need to create:
CK1 CK2 Words
--------------------------------------------------------------
1 A This
1 A is
1 A a
1 A comment.
2 A Another
2 A comment
2 A here.
What you are trying to do is tokenize a string using a space as a Delimiter. In the SQL world people often refer to functions that do this as a "Splitter". The potential pitfall of using a splitter for this type of thing is how words can be separated by multiple spaces, tabs, CHAR(10)'s, CHAR(13)'s, CHAR()'s, etc. Poor grammar, such as not adding a space after a period results in this:
" End of sentence.Next sentence"
sentence.Next is returned as a word.
The way I like to tokenize human text is to:
Replace any text that isn't a character with a space
Replace duplicate spaces
Trim the string
Split the newly transformed string using a space as the delimiter.
Below is my solution followed by the DDL to create the functions used.
-- Sample Data
DECLARE #yourtable TABLE (CK1 INT, CK2 CHAR(1), Comment VARCHAR(8000));
INSERT #yourtable (CK1, CK2, Comment)
VALUES
(1,'A','This is a typical comment...Follewed by another...'),
(2,'A','This comment has double spaces and tabs and even carriage
returns!');
-- Solution
SELECT t.CK1, t.CK2, split.itemNumber, split.itemIndex, split.itemLength, split.item
FROM #yourtable AS t
CROSS APPLY samd.patReplace(t.Comment,'[^a-zA-Z ]',' ') AS c1
CROSS APPLY samd.removeDupChar8K(c1.newString,' ') AS c2
CROSS APPLY samd.delimitedSplitAB8K(LTRIM(RTRIM(c2.NewString)),' ') AS split;
Results (truncated for brevity):
CK1 CK2 itemNumber itemIndex itemLength item
----------- ---- -------------------- ----------- ----------- --------------
1 A 1 1 4 This
1 A 2 6 2 is
1 A 3 9 1 a
1 A 4 11 7 typical
1 A 5 19 7 comment
...
2 A 1 1 4 This
2 A 2 6 7 comment
2 A 3 14 3 has
2 A 4 18 6 double
...
Note that the splitter I'm using is based of Jeff Moden's Delimited Split8K with a couple tweeks.
Functions used:
CREATE FUNCTION dbo.rangeAB
(
#low bigint,
#high bigint,
#gap bigint,
#row1 bit
)
RETURNS TABLE WITH SCHEMABINDING AS RETURN
WITH L1(N) AS
(
SELECT 1
FROM (VALUES
(0),(0),(0),(0),(0),(0),(0),(0),(0),(0),(0),(0),(0),(0),(0),(0),(0),(0),(0),(0),(0),(0),
(0),(0),(0),(0),(0),(0),(0),(0),(0),(0),(0),(0),(0),(0),(0),(0),(0),(0),(0),(0),(0),(0),
(0),(0),(0),(0),(0),(0),(0),(0),(0),(0),(0),(0),(0),(0),(0),(0),(0),(0),(0),(0),(0),(0),
(0),(0),(0),(0),(0),(0),(0),(0),(0),(0),(0),(0),(0),(0),(0),(0),(0),(0),(0),(0),(0),(0),
(0),(0)) T(N) -- 90 values
),
L2(N) AS (SELECT 1 FROM L1 a CROSS JOIN L1 b CROSS JOIN L1 c),
iTally AS (SELECT rn = ROW_NUMBER() OVER (ORDER BY (SELECT 1)) FROM L2 a CROSS JOIN L2 b)
SELECT r.RN, r.OP, r.N1, r.N2
FROM
(
SELECT
RN = 0,
OP = (#high-#low)/#gap,
N1 = #low,
N2 = #gap+#low
WHERE #row1 = 0
UNION ALL -- COALESCE required in the TOP statement below for error handling purposes
SELECT TOP (ABS((COALESCE(#high,0)-COALESCE(#low,0))/COALESCE(#gap,0)+COALESCE(#row1,1)))
RN = i.rn,
OP = (#high-#low)/#gap+(2*#row1)-i.rn,
N1 = (i.rn-#row1)*#gap+#low,
N2 = (i.rn-(#row1-1))*#gap+#low
FROM iTally AS i
ORDER BY i.rn
) AS r
WHERE #high&#low&#gap&#row1 IS NOT NULL AND #high >= #low AND #gap > 0;
GO
CREATE FUNCTION samd.NGrams8k
(
#string VARCHAR(8000), -- Input string
#N INT -- requested token size
)
RETURNS TABLE WITH SCHEMABINDING AS RETURN
SELECT
position = r.RN,
token = SUBSTRING(#string, CHECKSUM(r.RN), #N)
FROM dbo.rangeAB(1, LEN(#string)+1-#N,1,1) AS r
WHERE #N > 0 AND #N <= LEN(#string);
GO
CREATE FUNCTION samd.patReplace8K
(
#string VARCHAR(8000),
#pattern VARCHAR(50),
#replace VARCHAR(20)
)
RETURNS TABLE WITH SCHEMABINDING AS RETURN
SELECT newString =
(
SELECT CASE WHEN #string = CAST('' AS VARCHAR(8000)) THEN CAST('' AS VARCHAR(8000))
WHEN #pattern+#replace+#string IS NOT NULL THEN
CASE WHEN PATINDEX(#pattern,token COLLATE Latin1_General_BIN)=0
THEN ng.token ELSE #replace END END
FROM samd.NGrams8K(#string, 1) AS ng
ORDER BY ng.position
FOR XML PATH(''),TYPE
).value('text()[1]', 'VARCHAR(8000)');
GO
CREATE FUNCTION samd.delimitedSplitAB8K
(
#string VARCHAR(8000), -- input string
#delimiter CHAR(1) -- delimiter
)
RETURNS TABLE WITH SCHEMABINDING AS RETURN
SELECT
itemNumber = ROW_NUMBER() OVER (ORDER BY d.p),
itemIndex = CHECKSUM(ISNULL(NULLIF(d.p+1, 0),1)),
itemLength = CHECKSUM(item.ln),
item = SUBSTRING(#string, d.p+1, item.ln)
FROM (VALUES (DATALENGTH(#string))) AS l(s) -- length of the string
CROSS APPLY
(
SELECT 0 UNION ALL -- for handling leading delimiters
SELECT ng.position
FROM samd.NGrams8K(#string, 1) AS ng
WHERE token = #delimiter
) AS d(p) -- delimiter.position
CROSS APPLY (VALUES( --LEAD(d.p, 1, l.s+l.d) OVER (ORDER BY d.p) - (d.p+l.d)
ISNULL(NULLIF(CHARINDEX(#delimiter,#string,d.p+1),0)-(d.p+1), l.s-d.p))) AS item(ln);
GO
CREATE FUNCTION dbo.RemoveDupChar8K(#string varchar(8000), #char char(1))
RETURNS TABLE WITH SCHEMABINDING AS RETURN
SELECT NewString =
replace(replace(replace(replace(replace(replace(replace(
#string COLLATE LATIN1_GENERAL_BIN,
replicate(#char,33), #char), --33
replicate(#char,17), #char), --17
replicate(#char,9 ), #char), -- 9
replicate(#char,5 ), #char), -- 5
replicate(#char,3 ), #char), -- 3
replicate(#char,2 ), #char), -- 2
replicate(#char,2 ), #char); -- 2
GO
1) If we are using SQL Server 2016 and above then we should probably
use the built-in function STRING_SPLIT
-- SQL 2016and above
DECLARE #txt NVARCHAR(100) = N'This is a comment.'
select [value] from STRING_SPLIT(#txt, ' ')
2) Only if 1 does not fit, then if the number of separation (the space in our case) is less then 3 which fit your sample data, then we should probably use PARSENAME
-- BEFORE SQL 2016 if we have less than 4 parts
DECLARE #txt NVARCHAR(100) = N'This is a comment.'
DECLARE #Temp NVARCHAR(200) = REPLACE (#txt,'.','#')
SELECT t FROM (VALUES(1),(2),(3),(4))T1(n)
CROSS APPLY (SELECT REPLACE(PARSENAME(REPLACE(#Temp,' ','.'),T1.n), '#','.'))T2(t)
3) Only if the 1 and 2 does not fit, then we should use SQLCLR function
http://dataeducation.com/sqlclr-string-splitting-part-2-even-faster-even-more-scalable/
4) Only if we cannot use 1,2 and we cannot use SQLCLR (which implies a real problematic administration and has nothing with security since you can have all the SQLCLR function in a read-only database for the use of all users, as I explain in my lectures), then you can use T-SQL and create UDF.
https://sqlperformance.com/2012/07/t-sql-queries/split-strings
Function px_explode will be provided with two parameters:
separator
string
Final result will look like this:
SELECT * FROM dbo.px_explode('xxy', 'alfaxxybetaxxygama')
and will return
But...
Query won't finish execution, so I assume that I ran into an infinite loop here, now assuming this, my question might be.
How can I avoid the infinite loop I ran into and what am I missing?
Code:
CREATE FUNCTION dbo.px_explode
(#separator VARCHAR(10), #string VARCHAR(2000))
RETURNS #expl_tbl TABLE
(val VARCHAR(100))
AS
BEGIN
IF (CHARINDEX(#separator, #string) = 0) and (LTRIM(RTRIM(#string)) <> '')
INSERT INTO #expl_tbl VALUES(LTRIM(RTRIM(#string)))
ELSE
BEGIN
WHILE CHARINDEX(#separator, #string) > 0
BEGIN
IF (LTRIM(RTRIM(LEFT(#string, CHARINDEX(#separator, #string) - 1)))
<> '')
INSERT INTO #expl_tbl VALUES(LTRIM(RTRIM(LEFT(#string,
CHARINDEX(#separator, #string) - 1))))
END
IF LTRIM(RTRIM(#string)) <> ''
INSERT INTO #expl_tbl VALUES(LTRIM(RTRIM(#string)))
END
RETURN
END
Loops are bad and so are mutli-statement table valued functions (e.g. where you define the table). If performance is important then you want a tally table and and inline table valued function (iTVF).
For a high-performing way to resolve this I would first grab a copy of Ngrams8k. The solution you're looking for will look like this:
DECLARE #string varchar(8000) = 'alfaxxybetaxxygama',
#delimiter varchar(20) = 'xxy'; -- use
SELECT
itemNumber = row_number() over (ORDER BY d.p),
itemIndex = isnull(nullif(d.p+l.d, 0),1),
item = SUBSTRING
(
#string,
d.p+l.d, -- delimiter position + delimiter length
isnull(nullif(charindex(#delimiter, #string, d.p+l.d),0) - (d.p+l.d), 8000)
)
FROM (values (len(#string), len(#delimiter))) l(s,d) -- 1 is fine for l.d but keeping uniform
CROSS APPLY
(
SELECT -(l.d) union all
SELECT ng.position
FROM dbo.NGrams8K(#string, l.d) as ng
WHERE token = #delimiter
) as d(p); -- delimiter.position
Which returns
itemNumber itemIndex item
-------------------- -------------------- ---------
1 1 alfa
2 8 beta
3 15 gama
Against a table it would look like this:
DECLARE #table table (string varchar(8000));
INSERT #table VALUES ('abcxxyXYZxxy123'), ('alfaxxybetaxxygama');
DECLARE #delimiter varchar(100) = 'xxy';
SELECT *
FROM #table t
CROSS APPLY
(
SELECT
itemNumber = row_number() over (ORDER BY d.p),
itemIndex = isnull(nullif(d.p+l.d, 0),1),
item = SUBSTRING
(
t.string,
d.p+l.d, -- delimiter position + delimiter length
isnull(nullif(charindex(#delimiter, t.string, d.p+l.d),0) - (d.p+l.d), 8000)
)
FROM (values (len(t.string), len(#delimiter))) l(s,d) -- 1 is fine for l.d but keeping uniform
CROSS APPLY
(
SELECT -(l.d) union all
SELECT ng.position
FROM dbo.NGrams8K(t.string, l.d) as ng
WHERE token = #delimiter
) as d(p) -- delimiter.position
) split;
Results:
string itemNumber itemIndex item
------------------------- -------------------- -------------------- ------------------
abcxxyXYZxxy123 1 1 abc
abcxxyXYZxxy123 2 7 XYZ
abcxxyXYZxxy123 3 13 123
alfaxxybetaxxygama 1 1 alfa
alfaxxybetaxxygama 2 8 beta
alfaxxybetaxxygama 3 15 gama
My favourite is the XML splitter. This needs no function and is fully inlineable. If you can introduce a function to your database, the suggested links in Gareth's comment give you some very good ideas.
This is simple and quite straight forward:
DECLARE #YourString VARCHAR(100)='alfaxxybetaxxygama';
SELECT nd.value('text()[1]','nvarchar(max)')
FROM (SELECT CAST('<x>' + REPLACE((SELECT #YourString AS [*] FOR XML PATH('')),'xxy','</x><x>') + '</x>' AS XML)) AS A(Casted)
CROSS APPLY A.Casted.nodes('/x') AS B(nd);
This will first transform your string to an XML like this
<x>alfa</x>
<x>beta</x>
<x>gama</x>
... simply by replacing the delimiters xxy with XML tags. The rest is easy reading from XML .nodes()
This question already has answers here:
Turning a Comma Separated string into individual rows
(16 answers)
Closed 5 years ago.
Suppose I have a table like this with an undetermined number of comma-delimited values in one column:
thingID personID
1 123,234,345
2 456,567
and I want to get it into a form like this:
thingID personID
1 123
1 234
1 345
2 456
2 567
What is my best option for doing this?
Oh I should mention the data is in a SQL 2008 R2 database so I may not be able to use the very latest functionality.
Use CROSS APPLY with a string splitting function.
To find the string splitting function that works best for you, read Aaron Bertrand's Split strings the right way – or the next best way.
For this demonstration I've chosen to use the SplitStrings_XML function, simply because it's the first pure t-sql function in the article:
CREATE FUNCTION dbo.SplitStrings_XML
(
#List NVARCHAR(MAX),
#Delimiter NVARCHAR(255)
)
RETURNS TABLE
WITH SCHEMABINDING
AS
RETURN
(
SELECT Item = y.i.value('(./text())[1]', 'nvarchar(4000)')
FROM
(
SELECT x = CONVERT(XML, '<i>'
+ REPLACE(#List, #Delimiter, '</i><i>')
+ '</i>').query('.')
) AS a CROSS APPLY x.nodes('i') AS y(i)
);
GO
Now that we have a string splitting function, create and populate the sample table (Please save us this step in your future questions):
DECLARE #T AS TABLE
(
thingID int,
personID varchar(max)
)
INSERT INTO #T VALUES
(1, '123,234,345'),
(2, '456,567')
The query:
SELECT thingId, Item
FROM #T
CROSS APPLY dbo.SplitStrings_XML(personID, ',')
Results:
thingId Item
1 123
1 234
1 345
2 456
2 567
You can see a live demo on rextester.
There are several ways to do that. Here are two methods for SQL Server 2008:
XML-Method: requires the string to allow for the xml-trick (no invalid XML chars)
SELECT a.thingID, Split.a.value('.', 'VARCHAR(100)') AS Data
FROM (SELECT OtherID,
CAST('<M>' + REPLACE(personID, ',', '</M><M>') + '</M>' AS XML) AS Data
FROM table1) AS A CROSS APPLY Data.nodes ('/M') AS Split(a);
Recursive method:
;WITH tmp(thingID, DataItem, Data) AS (
SELECT thingID, LEFT(personID, CHARINDEX(',', personID + ',') - 1),
STUFF(personID, 1, CHARINDEX(',', personID + ','), '')
FROM table1
UNION ALL
SELECT thingID, LEFT(personID, CHARINDEX(',', personID + ',') - 1),
STUFF(personID, 1, CHARINDEX(',', personID + ','), '')
FROM tmp
WHERE Data > ''
)
SELECT thingID, DataItem AS personID
FROM tmp
I have two variables, one is called PaidThisMonth, and the other is called OwedPast. They are both results of some subqueries in SQL. How can I select the smaller of the two and return it as a value titled PaidForPast?
The MIN function works on columns, not variables.
SQL Server 2012 and 2014 supports IIF(cont,true,false) function. Thus for minimal selection you can use it like
SELECT IIF(first>second, second, first) the_minimal FROM table
While IIF is just a shorthand for writing CASE...WHEN...ELSE, it's easier to write.
The solutions using CASE, IIF, and UDF are adequate, but impractical when extending the problem to the general case using more than 2 comparison values. The generalized
solution in SQL Server 2008+ utilizes a strange application of the VALUES clause:
SELECT
PaidForPast=(SELECT MIN(x) FROM (VALUES (PaidThisMonth),(OwedPast)) AS value(x))
Credit due to this website:
http://sqlblog.com/blogs/jamie_thomson/archive/2012/01/20/use-values-clause-to-get-the-maximum-value-from-some-columns-sql-server-t-sql.aspx
Use Case:
Select Case When #PaidThisMonth < #OwedPast
Then #PaidThisMonth Else #OwedPast End PaidForPast
As Inline table valued UDF
CREATE FUNCTION Minimum
(#Param1 Integer, #Param2 Integer)
Returns Table As
Return(Select Case When #Param1 < #Param2
Then #Param1 Else #Param2 End MinValue)
Usage:
Select MinValue as PaidforPast
From dbo.Minimum(#PaidThisMonth, #OwedPast)
ADDENDUM:
This is probably best for when addressing only two possible values, if there are more than two, consider Craig's answer using Values clause.
For SQL Server 2022+ (or MySQL or PostgreSQL 9.3+), a better way is to use the LEAST and GREATEST functions.
SELECT GREATEST(A.date0, B.date0) AS date0,
LEAST(A.date1, B.date1, B.date2) AS date1
FROM A, B
WHERE B.x = A.x
With:
GREATEST(value [, ...]) : Returns the largest (maximum-valued) argument from values provided
LEAST(value [, ...]) Returns the smallest (minimum-valued) argument from values provided
Documentation links :
MySQL http://dev.mysql.com/doc/refman/5.0/en/comparison-operators.html
Postgres https://www.postgresql.org/docs/current/functions-conditional.html
SQL Server https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/sql/t-sql/functions/logical-functions-least-transact-sql
I just had a situation where I had to find the max of 4 complex selects within an update.
With this approach you can have as many as you like!
You can also replace the numbers with aditional selects
select max(x)
from (
select 1 as 'x' union
select 4 as 'x' union
select 3 as 'x' union
select 2 as 'x'
) a
More complex usage
#answer = select Max(x)
from (
select #NumberA as 'x' union
select #NumberB as 'x' union
select #NumberC as 'x' union
select (
Select Max(score) from TopScores
) as 'x'
) a
I'm sure a UDF has better performance.
Here is a trick if you want to calculate maximum(field, 0):
SELECT (ABS(field) + field)/2 FROM Table
returns 0 if field is negative, else, return field.
Use a CASE statement.
Example B in this page should be close to what you're trying to do:
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms181765.aspx
Here's the code from the page:
USE AdventureWorks;
GO
SELECT ProductNumber, Name, 'Price Range' =
CASE
WHEN ListPrice = 0 THEN 'Mfg item - not for resale'
WHEN ListPrice < 50 THEN 'Under $50'
WHEN ListPrice >= 50 and ListPrice < 250 THEN 'Under $250'
WHEN ListPrice >= 250 and ListPrice < 1000 THEN 'Under $1000'
ELSE 'Over $1000'
END
FROM Production.Product
ORDER BY ProductNumber ;
GO
This works for up to 5 dates and handles nulls. Just couldn't get it to work as an Inline function.
CREATE FUNCTION dbo.MinDate(#Date1 datetime = Null,
#Date2 datetime = Null,
#Date3 datetime = Null,
#Date4 datetime = Null,
#Date5 datetime = Null)
RETURNS Datetime AS
BEGIN
--USAGE select dbo.MinDate('20120405',null,null,'20110305',null)
DECLARE #Output datetime;
WITH Datelist_CTE(DT)
AS (
SELECT #Date1 AS DT WHERE #Date1 is not NULL UNION
SELECT #Date2 AS DT WHERE #Date2 is not NULL UNION
SELECT #Date3 AS DT WHERE #Date3 is not NULL UNION
SELECT #Date4 AS DT WHERE #Date4 is not NULL UNION
SELECT #Date5 AS DT WHERE #Date5 is not NULL
)
Select #Output=Min(DT) FROM Datelist_CTE;
RETURN #Output;
END;
Building on the brilliant logic / code from mathematix and scottyc, I submit:
DECLARE #a INT, #b INT, #c INT = 0;
WHILE #c < 100
BEGIN
SET #c += 1;
SET #a = ROUND(RAND()*100,0)-50;
SET #b = ROUND(RAND()*100,0)-50;
SELECT #a AS a, #b AS b,
#a - ( ABS(#a-#b) + (#a-#b) ) / 2 AS MINab,
#a + ( ABS(#b-#a) + (#b-#a) ) / 2 AS MAXab,
CASE WHEN (#a <= #b AND #a = #a - ( ABS(#a-#b) + (#a-#b) ) / 2)
OR (#a >= #b AND #a = #a + ( ABS(#b-#a) + (#b-#a) ) / 2)
THEN 'Success' ELSE 'Failure' END AS Status;
END;
Although the jump from scottyc's MIN function to the MAX function should have been obvious to me, it wasn't, so I've solved for it and included it here: SELECT #a + ( ABS(#b-#a) + (#b-#a) ) / 2. The randomly generated numbers, while not proof, should at least convince skeptics that both formulae are correct.
Use a temp table to insert the range of values, then select the min/max of the temp table from within a stored procedure or UDF. This is a basic construct, so feel free to revise as needed.
For example:
CREATE PROCEDURE GetMinSpeed() AS
BEGIN
CREATE TABLE #speed (Driver NVARCHAR(10), SPEED INT);
'
' Insert any number of data you need to sort and pull from
'
INSERT INTO #speed (N'Petty', 165)
INSERT INTO #speed (N'Earnhardt', 172)
INSERT INTO #speed (N'Patrick', 174)
SELECT MIN(SPEED) FROM #speed
DROP TABLE #speed
END
Select MIN(T.V) FROM (Select 1 as V UNION Select 2 as V) T
SELECT (WHEN first > second THEN second ELSE first END) the_minimal FROM table