Sorry for the confusion. In this case I am using the * to denote a field name instead of the wild card character.
- Asad On Wed, 30 Mar 2005 [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: > Asad Habib <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote on 03/30/2005 10:53:38 AM: > > > Does MySQL 4.1 support the use of GROUP BY and ORDER BY used in > > conjunction with one another? I have tried to execute several queries > > with both these clauses but the result set I get is different from what > I > > expect. My queries read as follows: > > > > SELECT *, *, * FROM * > > WHERE * > > GROUP BY * ORDER BY * > > > > Also, does GROUP BY only work on fields that are strings (i.e. > > CHAR, VARCHAR, TEXT, etc.). Thanks in advance. > > > > - Asad > > > > I hope you don't expect your query to actually work. The SELECT clause is > the only place where you can use the * wildcard to mean "all columns". If > you wanted to frame a sample query but leave out information, I have been > using an ellipsis (three dots together) to indicate the missing piece(s) > like this: > > SELECT ... > FROM ... > WHERE ... > GROUP BY ... > ORDER BY ... > > However, I generally do not leave out EVERYTHING in a query, like the one > above. I usually only leave out the parts that aren't important to the > information I am trying to convey. If I want to indicate that there was > something specific the user needs to replace, I put that inside of "angle > brackets" like this > > SELECT <a list of columns from your table> > , <a list of aggregate functions on columns from your table> > FROM <a table name> > GROUP BY <all of the columns in your SELECT clause that are not part of an > aggregate function> > > These are just my conventions. Use them only if you like them. I am not > nor will I ever become the "style" police for this list. I just thought > you could use a little help in creating better sample queries.... :-) > > You asked if you can use GROUP BY and ORDER BY in the same query. > Absolutely!! I do it frequently. You also asked if GROUP BY works on > different column types. Absolutely!! You can group on any type of field or > combination of datatypes supported by MySQL (with the exception of TEXT > and BLOB fields as they usually contain more data than is practical to use > to form aggregates. I would recommend that you do not use a BLOB or TEXT > field in a GROUP BY unless it is unavoidable. IF you MUST do it, then you > should manually specify what portion of the field to use) > > May I suggest some reading? > http://dev.mysql.com/doc/mysql/en/select.html > http://dev.mysql.com/doc/mysql/en/group-by-functions-and-modifiers.html > http://dev.mysql.com/doc/mysql/en/blob.html > > Shawn Green > Database Administrator > Unimin Corporation - Spruce Pine > > > > -- MySQL General Mailing List For list archives: http://lists.mysql.com/mysql To unsubscribe: http://lists.mysql.com/[EMAIL PROTECTED]
