Using RANK() to Obtain a Top-N Query
To obtain a top-N query, use RANK() in a subquery and then apply a filter condition outside the subquery:
SELECT Empno, Ename, Job, Mgr, Hiredate, Sal
FROM
(SELECT Empno, Ename, Job, Mgr, Hiredate, Sal,
RANK() OVER
(ORDER BY SAL Desc NULLS LAST) AS Emp_Rank
FROM Emp
ORDER BY SAL Desc NULLS LAST)
WHERE Emp_Rank < 6;
Listing 6 shows the output of the above code.
Using the same technique, you can retrieve the bottom-five employees by salary:
SELECT Empno, Ename, Job, Mgr, Hiredate, Sal
FROM
(SELECT Empno, Ename, Job, Mgr, Hiredate, Sal,
RANK() OVER
(ORDER BY SAL ASC NULLS FIRST) AS Emp_Rank
FROM Emp
ORDER BY SAL ASC NULLS FIRST)
WHERE Emp_Rank < 6;
Listing 7 shows the output of the above code.
Ranking functions can be used to operate within groups, too—that is, the rank value gets reset whenever the group changes. This is achieved with a PARTION BY subclause. Here is the syntax to retrieve the top employee by salary per manager group:
SELECT Empno, Ename, Job, Mgr, Hiredate, Sal
FROM
(SELECT Empno, Ename, Job, Mgr, Hiredate, Sal,
RANK() OVER
(PARTITION BY MGR ORDER BY MGR, SAL DESC NULLS LAST) AS Emp_Rank
FROM Emp
ORDER BY MGR, SAL DESC NULLS LAST)
WHERE Emp_Rank = 1;
Listing 8 shows the output of the above code.
As you can see, analytic functions are extremely useful in all types of analysis and computations, and they provide substantial SQL extensions to Oracle 8i.
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Previous Page: Utilizing Oracle 8i's Ranking Functions
Boris Milrud has 10 years of experience as a software developer. He is a Senior Database Engineer with Callidus Software, Inc. located in San Jose CA. He is specializing in all aspects of Oracle database software development including database design, programming, optimization and tuning.
