Question

select 
  source_of_data,
  convert(varchar(10),a.DATECREATED,101),
  COUNT(*)
from some_table a
group by
  source_of_data, 
  convert(varchar(10),a.DATECREATED,101)
order by 
  source_of_data,
  convert(varchar(10),a.DATECREATED,101)

Output data looks like this:

mainframe 4/5/11  22
mainframe 4/6/11  45
mainframe n/n/nn  nn
sqlserver 4/5/11  44
sqlserver 4/6/11  67
sqlserver n/n/nn  nn

But I want the output to look like this:

mainframe 4/5/11  22
sqlserver 4/5/11  44
mainframe 4/6/11  45
sqlserver 4/6/11  67
mainframe n/n/nn  nn
sqlserver n/n/nn  nn

This way I can easily verify visually if a grouped entry for any particular date is missing—say for some day we get mainframe data but sqlserver data is missing. Can someone please help modify the query so I don’t have to resort to writing a stored proc to achieve my objective?

Answer 1

If I understand correctly, just switch your order by to

convert(Date, a.DATECREATED,101), source_of_data

then your results should come out how you describe

Edit: converting it to varchar, it will not work as expected. Convert it to DATE type.