Group by only one column

Question

Hi friends,
I have a create table script as below:
CREATE TABLE GROUPBY_TEST
( NAME VARCHAR2(5),
HIREDATE DATE,
DEPARTMENT VARCHAR2(5),
SALARY NUMBER(5)
Insert script :
INSERT INTO GROUPBY_TEST VALUES ('A','1-JAN-2000','XYZ',1000);
INSERT INTO GROUPBY_TEST VALUES ('A','1-FEB-2000','ABC',5000);
INSERT INTO GROUPBY_TEST VALUES ('A','1-APR-2000','DDD',5000);
INSERT INTO GROUPBY_TEST VALUES ('B','10-JAN-2000','EEE',1000);
INSERT INTO GROUPBY_TEST VALUES ('B','10-FEB-1999','FFF',500);
INSERT INTO GROUPBY_TEST VALUES ('C','15-MAY-2005','GGG',500);
INSERT INTO GROUPBY_TEST VALUES ('C','27-JUN-2003','LLL',10000);
My table data looks like :
SELECT * FROM GROUPBY_TEST;
NAME HIREDATE DEPAR SALARY
A 01-JAN-00 XYZ 1000
A 01-FEB-00 ABC 5000
A 01-APR-00 DDD 5000
B 10-JAN-00 EEE 1000
B 10-FEB-99 FFF 500
C 15-MAY-05 GGG 500
C 27-JUN-03 LLL 10000
7 rows selected.
I want output as:
Name HAREDATE DEPT SAL
A 01-APR-00 DDD 5000
B 10-JAN-00 EEE 1000
C 15-MAY-05 FFF 500
i want to have max(HIREDATE) records group by NAME only and NOT BY DEPARTMENT AND SAL.
When i tried query as below:
select name,max(hiredate),department,salary from groupby_test
group by name,department,salary;
It returned all 7 records which i dont want
can some one help me getting neccessary output ?
Thanks a lot
JP

Answer 1

A way :
SQL> select name, hiredate, department, salary
  2  from   (select a.*, dense_rank() over (partition by name order by hiredate desc) dr from groupby_test a)
  3  where  dr = 1;
NAME  HIREDATE DEPAR     SALARY
A     01/04/00 DDD         5000
B     10/01/00 EEE         1000
C     15/05/05 GGG          500
SQL> An other way without subquery :
SQL> select name,
  2         max(hiredate) keep (dense_rank last order by hiredate) hiredate,
  3         max(department) keep (dense_rank last order by hiredate) department,
  4         max(salary) keep (dense_rank last order by hiredate) salary
  5  from   groupby_test
  6  group by name;
NAME  HIREDATE DEPAR     SALARY
A     01/04/00 DDD         5000
B     10/01/00 EEE         1000
C     15/05/05 GGG          500
SQL> Nicolas.
Ok, too slow, and too late for me now...
Message was edited by:
N. Gasparotto