Can I do this in sql?

Question

I'm trying to get the **ID_RE** with the highest columns in **Date_Enter,Date_Process,Date_Shipment**

For example, here have a three rows.

 - **1,2012-02-01,2016-02-01,2015-02-01,Send for MX4343**
 - **2,2013-02-01,2008-04-01,2009-02-01,It's For trade**
 - **3,2018-02-01,2019-05-01,2007-02-01,Like a environment**

This is the highest:

3,2018-02-01,2019-05-01,2007-02-01,Like a environment

I've been trying with this:

SELECT 
MAX(Date_Enter),
MAX(Date_Process),
MAX(Date_Shipment),
Description
FROM Reports

But, not works

CREATE TABLE [dbo].[Reports](
    [ID_RE] [int] IDENTITY(1,1) NOT NULL,
    [Date_Enter] [datetime] NOT NULL,
    [Date_Process] [datetime] NOT NULL,
    [Date_Shipment] [varchar](20),
    [Description] [varchar](20)
 CONSTRAINT [PK_Reports] PRIMARY KEY CLUSTERED 
(
    [ID_RE] ASC
)WITH (IGNORE_DUP_KEY = OFF) ON [PRIMARY]
) ON [PRIMARY]
END
GO

Here we have some information

insert into Reports(Date_Enter,Date_Process,Date_Shipment,Description) values('2012-02-01 02:25:23','2016-02-01 08:45:23','2015-02-01 05:35:23','Send for MX4343')

insert into Reports(Date_Enter,Date_Process,Date_Shipment,Description) values('2013-02-01 01:52:23','2008-04-01 12:45:23','209-02-01 07:35:43','It is For trade')

insert into Reports(Date_Enter,Date_Process,Date_Shipment,Description) values('2018-02-01 04:34:33','2019-05-01 04:35:44','2007-02-01 09:35:09','Like a environment')

Answer 1

Problem:

Query you have written is not correct. I suggest you to read GROUP BY in SQL

Note: You have following two issues in your question data.

1- Date_Shipment is not correct date as 209 is not a valid year 2- Data type of [Date_Shipment] is VARCHAR it should be DATETIME,

insert into Reports(Date_Enter,Date_Process,Date_Shipment,Description) values('2013-02-01 01:52:23','2008-04-01 12:45:23','209-02-01 07:35:43','It is For trade')

Solution :

If you want to find the MAX based on all 3 columns and decide based on that, you can write like following query.

SELECT 
 ID_RE,
   (SELECT MAX(MaxDate)
      FROM (VALUES (Date_Enter),(Date_Process),(Date_Shipment)) AS FindMax(MaxDate)) 
   AS MaxDate

  FROM [dbo].[Reports]

if you want to find MAX based on 1 date column, you can try like following. Following query will return multiple records if Date_Enter is same for 2 or more records.

SELECT * FROM [dbo].[Reports]
WHERE Date_Enter =
(
 SELECT MAX(Date_Enter) FROM [dbo].[Reports]
)

If you simply want to get 1 records based on Date_Enter you can try like following.

SELECT TOP 1 * FROM [dbo].[Reports]
ORDER BY Date_Enter DESC

Answer 2

You can apply order by as per your requirement as below. If you wants that your data fetch the record which Date_Enter is max then apply order by on that column. If you wants to get record by multiple order condition then you can also apply order on multiple columns.

Order by Only Date_Enter:

SELECT TOP 1
    ID_RE
    Date_Enter,
    Date_Process,
    Date_Shipment,
    Description
FROM Reports
ORDER BY Date_Enter DESC

Order by with Date_Enter,Date_Process and Date_Shipment:

SELECT TOP 1
    ID_RE
    Date_Enter,
    Date_Process,
    Date_Shipment,
    Description
FROM Reports
ORDER BY Date_Enter DESC, Date_Process DESC, Date_Shipment DESC