Access SQL Function in Oracle?

Question

Microsoft Access SQL has a function called LastOf which extracts
data from a column within the last row returned when multiple
rows are returned. This function works even when many tables are
joined and only one of them returns multiple rows. Does Oracle's
SQL implementation have anything like it?

Answer 1

I can't find a reference to a LastOf function for MS-Access.
Perhaps you are refering to the Last(expr) function or MoveLast
method of DAO Recordset.
Last behavior can be reached in one of several ways depending on
the desired results, most depending on the ordering of the result
set. Both Access and VB use the concept of a recordset, which is
analogous to a CURSOR in Oracle.
To use an implicit cursor, and only retreive the one row, you
might use the sudo-colomn ROWNUM:
SELECT my_col FROM my_tab WHERE ROWNUM = 1
This would give you the first record of the result set, but there
is no guarantee on which row it would be - so you might consider
ordering the result set:
SELECT my_col FROM my_tab WHERE ROWNUM = 1 ORDER BY my_col ASC;
Which would return one row, the value of my_col being the
smallest value in the table. Now might be a good time to talk
aggrogate functions, such as:
SELECT MIN( my_col ) FROM my_tab;
which does the same thing as above.
If all else fails, RTFM.
-Kevin