Question

I having a challenge with my query returning multiple results.

SELECT DISTINCT gpph.id, gpph.cname, gc2a.assetfilename, gpph.alternateURL
FROM [StepMirror].[dbo].[stepview_nwppck_ngn_getpimproducthierarchy] gpph 
INNER JOIN [StepMirror].[dbo].[stepview_nwppck_ngn_getclassification2assetrefs] gc2a
ON gpph.id=gc2a.id
WHERE gpph.subtype='Level_4' AND gpph.parentId=@ID AND gc2a.assettype='Primary Image'

A record, 5679599, has 2 ‘Primary Images’ and is returning 2 results for that id but I only need the first result back. Is there any way to do this IN the current query? Do I need to write multiple queries?

I need some direction on how to constrain the results to only 1 result on Primary Image. I have looked at a ton of similar questions but most typically are just requiring the guidance of adding ‘distinct’ to the beginning of their query rather than on the where clause.

Edit: This problem is created by a user inputting 2 Primary Images on one record in the database. My business requirements only state to take the first result.

Any help would be awesome!

Answer 1

Given the choice is arbitary which to return, we can just use an aggregate on the value. This then needs a group by clause, which eliminates the need for the distinct.

SELECT gpph.id, gpph.cname, max(gc2a.assetfilename), gpph.alternateURL
FROM [StepMirror].[dbo].[stepview_nwppck_ngn_getpimproducthierarchy] gpph 
INNER JOIN [StepMirror].[dbo].[stepview_nwppck_ngn_getclassification2assetrefs] gc2a
ON gpph.id=gc2a.id
WHERE gpph.subtype='Level_4' AND gpph.parentId=@ID AND gc2a.assettype='Primary Image'
GROUP BY gpph.id, gpph.cname, gpph.alternateURL

In this instance, using max(gc2a.assetfilename) is going to give you the alphabetically highest value in the event of there being more than one record. It’s not the ideal choice, some kind of timestamp knowing the order of the records might be more helpful, since then the meaning of the word ‘first’ could make more sense.