Question

I’ve got a simple query

select distinct m.STATE_CD, m.sex,SUM(c.cost) as TotalCost
    from members as m
    inner join claims as c on c.patid=m.PATID
    group by cube(m.STATE_CD,m.sex)
    order by m.STATE_CD

which returns a result set like

I would like to order by STATE_CD in the fashion that it is now, but is there a way to make the NULLS be at the bottom of the result set with the STATE_CD column still being in alphabetical order, without adding CASE statements to change the NULL to something that alphabetically falls last?

Answer 1

Use ISNULL in the order by:

DECLARE @test TABLE (STATE CHAR(2));

INSERT @test (STATE)
SELECT NULL
UNION ALL
SELECT 'AK'
UNION ALL
SELECT 'AL'
UNION ALL 
SELECT 'AR';

/*Returns null first*/
SELECT * FROM @test ORDER BY STATE

/*Returns null last*/
SELECT * FROM @test ORDER BY ISNULL(STATE,'ZZ');