SQL Custom Sort By

Question

Let's say I have this in a column:

'a'
'b'
'c'
'd'
'e'

I want the data to be sorted and looked like this:

'a'
'b'
'd'
'e'
'c'

Is this possible?

Add a new column with order number which generating by your rules. No other method. — MT-FreeHK, Sep 14 '18 at 02:50
What is the logic for this ordering? See the above comment as well. — Tim Biegeleisen, Sep 14 '18 at 02:55
I have some data where for nothing other than cosmetic purposes, I wanted one particular row above every other row, that was it. — Chicken Sandwich No Pickles, Sep 14 '18 at 03:21

score 2 · Accepted Answer · answered Sep 14 '18 at 02:56

2

select letter
from letters
order by
   case letter
     when 'a' then 0
     when 'b' then 1
     when 'd' then 2
     when 'e' then 3
     when 'c' then 4
   end

answered Sep 14 '18 at 02:56

Xedni

3,662
2
16
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1

This is just the ans from https://stackoverflow.com/questions/19196475/custom-order-by-in-sql-server-for-eg-p-a-l-h-not-asc-or-desc. – MT-FreeHK Sep 14 '18 at 03:05

score 2 · Answer 2 · answered Sep 14 '18 at 04:57

2

An other way around using CASE statement is,

Query

select [column_name] 
from [your_table_name]
order by 
  case [column_name] 
  when 'c' then 2 
  else 1 end, 
[column_name];

Find a demo here

answered Sep 14 '18 at 04:57

Ullas

11,450
4
33
50

SQL Custom Sort By

2 Answers2