Order By Parameter UNION Issue!!

Question

Hi All,
i have a query in which i have to order by a parameter.
but my problem is order by works only for non-union query if i add union to the query it gives error.
please see following..
SQL> SELECT   H.BOL_NUMBER BOL_NUMBER,
  2           H.PICKUP_NUMBER,
  3     to_char(H.PICKUP_DATE,'DD-MON-YYYY') PICKUP_DATE,
  4           RAC.CUSTOMER_NAME CUSTOMER_NAME,
  5           L.SALES_ORDER,
  6    to_char(MAX(PH.DATE_CONFIRMED),'DD-MON-YYYY HH24:MI:SS') DATE_CONFIRMED
  7  FROM     APPS.SO_PICKING_HEADERS_ALL PH,
  8    SMCOE.SMCOE_BOL_HEADERS H,
  9           SMCOE.SMCOE_BOL_LINES L,
10           SO_HEADERS_ALL SHA,
11           SO_ORDER_TYPES_ALL SOTA,
12           APPS.RA_CUSTOMERS RAC,
13    APPS.SO_PICKING_LINES_ALL PL,
14    APPS.SO_PICKING_LINE_DETAILS PLD
15  WHERE    H.BOL_HEADER_ID = L.BOL_HEADER_ID
16           AND L.SO_HEADER_ID = SHA.HEADER_ID
17           AND SHA.ORDER_TYPE_ID = SOTA.ORDER_TYPE_ID
18           AND L.CUSTOMER_ID = RAC.CUSTOMER_ID
19           AND H.PICKUP_DATE >= TO_DATE('3-NOV-2006 00:00:00','DD-MON-YYYY HH24:MI:SS')
20           AND H.PICKUP_DATE < TO_DATE('4-NOV-2006 00:00:00','DD-MON-YYYY HH24:MI:SS')
21           AND DECODE(NULL,NULL,'X',
22                                 RAC.CUSTOMER_NAME) = DECODE(NULL,NULL,'X',
23                                                                        NULL)
24           AND DECODE(634307,NULL,1,
25                            H.BOL_NUMBER) = DECODE(634307,NULL,1,
26                                                         634307)
27    AND decode('Only SO','Only SO','Z',RAC.CUSTOMER_NAME)=decode('Only SO','Only SO','Z','XXX')
28    AND PH.DATE_CONFIRMED IS NOT NULL
29    AND PH.PICKING_HEADER_ID=PL.PICKING_HEADER_ID
30    AND PL.PICKING_LINE_ID=PLD.PICKING_LINE_ID
31    AND PLD.PICKING_LINE_DETAIL_ID=L.PICKING_LINE_DETAIL_ID
32    AND NOT EXISTS (SELECT 1
33         FROM SO_PICKING_LINE_DETAILS SPLD,WSH_DELIVERIES WD
34         WHERE SPLD.DELIVERY_ID=WD.DELIVERY_ID
35         AND SPLD.PICKING_LINE_DETAIL_ID =L.PICKING_LINE_DETAIL_ID
36         AND WD.STATUS_CODE='OP'
37        )
38   GROUP BY H.BOL_NUMBER ,
39           H.PICKUP_NUMBER,
40           H.PICKUP_DATE ,
41           RAC.CUSTOMER_NAME ,
42           L.SALES_ORDER,
43           L.LINE_NUMBER,
44           L.GROSS_WEIGHT,
45           L.NET_WEIGHT,
46           L.TARE_WEIGHT
47  ORDER BY decode('CUSTOMER','DATE',PICKUP_DATE,'CUSTOMER',CUSTOMER_NAME,'PN',PICKUP_NUMBER,SALES_ORDER);
BOL_NUMBER PICKUP_N PICKUP_DATE CUSTOMER_NAME                                                      
SALES_ORDER                                                                                        
DATE_CONFIRMED                                                                                     
    634307 SC22862  03-NOV-2006 A M CASTLE & CO                                                    
300014511                                                                                          
03-NOV-2006 19:05:01                                                                               
    634307 SC22862  03-NOV-2006 A M CASTLE & CO                                                    
300014542                                                                                          
03-NOV-2006 19:04:55                                                                               
    634307 SC22862  03-NOV-2006 A M CASTLE & CO                                                    
300014599                                                                                          
03-NOV-2006 19:04:56                                                                               
    634307 SC22862  03-NOV-2006 A M CASTLE & CO                                                    
300014637                                                                                          
03-NOV-2006 19:05:04                                                                               
    634307 SC22862  03-NOV-2006 CORROSION MATERIALS INC                                            
14 rows selected.
SQL> ed
Wrote file afiedt.buf
line 72 truncated.
  1  SELECT   H.BOL_NUMBER BOL_NUMBER,
  2           H.PICKUP_NUMBER,
  3             to_char(H.PICKUP_DATE,'DD-MON-YYYY') PICKUP_DATE,
  4           RAC.CUSTOMER_NAME CUSTOMER_NAME,
  5           L.SALES_ORDER,
  6              ' ' DATE_CONFIRMED
  7  FROM     SMCOE.SMCOE_BOL_HEADERS H,
  8           SMCOE.SMCOE_BOL_LINES L,
  9           APPS.RA_CUSTOMERS RAC
10  WHERE    H.BOL_HEADER_ID = L.BOL_HEADER_ID
11           AND L.CUSTOMER_ID = RAC.CUSTOMER_ID
12           AND H.PICKUP_DATE >= TO_DATE('3-NOV-2006 00:00:00','DD-MON-YYYY HH24:MI:SS')
13           AND H.PICKUP_DATE < TO_DATE('4-NOV-2006 00:00:00','DD-MON-YYYY HH24:MI:SS')
14           AND DECODE(NULL,NULL,'X',
15                                 RAC.CUSTOMER_NAME) = DECODE(NULL,NULL,'X',
16                                                                        NULL)
17           AND DECODE(NULL,NULL,1,
18                            H.BOL_NUMBER) = DECODE(NULL,NULL,1,
19                                                        NULL)
20           AND SALES_ORDER NOT LIKE '4%'
21           AND SALES_ORDER NOT LIKE 'PO%'
22           AND SALES_ORDER <> '1'
23           AND L.CUSTOMER_NAME NOT LIKE 'REC%'
24        AND decode('Only SO','Product','Y',RAC.CUSTOMER_NAME)=decode('Only SO','Product','Y','XXX')
25  UNION
26  SELECT   H.BOL_NUMBER BOL_NUMBER,
27           H.PICKUP_NUMBER,
28             to_char(H.PICKUP_DATE,'DD-MON-YYYY') PICKUP_DATE,
29           RAC.CUSTOMER_NAME CUSTOMER_NAME,
30           L.SALES_ORDER,
31        to_char(MAX(PH.DATE_CONFIRMED),'DD-MON-YYYY HH24:MI:SS') DATE_CONFIRMED
32  FROM     APPS.SO_PICKING_HEADERS_ALL PH,
33        SMCOE.SMCOE_BOL_HEADERS H,
34           SMCOE.SMCOE_BOL_LINES L,
35           SO_HEADERS_ALL SHA,
36           SO_ORDER_TYPES_ALL SOTA,
37           APPS.RA_CUSTOMERS RAC,
38        APPS.SO_PICKING_LINES_ALL PL,
39        APPS.SO_PICKING_LINE_DETAILS PLD
40  WHERE    H.BOL_HEADER_ID = L.BOL_HEADER_ID
41           AND L.SO_HEADER_ID = SHA.HEADER_ID
42           AND SHA.ORDER_TYPE_ID = SOTA.ORDER_TYPE_ID
43           AND L.CUSTOMER_ID = RAC.CUSTOMER_ID
44           AND H.PICKUP_DATE >= TO_DATE('3-NOV-2006 00:00:00','DD-MON-YYYY HH24:MI:SS')
45           AND H.PICKUP_DATE < TO_DATE('4-NOV-2006 00:00:00','DD-MON-YYYY HH24:MI:SS')
46           AND DECODE(NULL,NULL,'X',
47                                 RAC.CUSTOMER_NAME) = DECODE(NULL,NULL,'X',
48                                                                        NULL)
49           AND DECODE(634307,NULL,1,
50                            H.BOL_NUMBER) = DECODE(634307,NULL,1,
51                                                         634307)
52        AND decode('Only SO','Only SO','Z',RAC.CUSTOMER_NAME)=decode('Only SO','Only SO','Z','XXX')
53        AND PH.DATE_CONFIRMED IS NOT NULL
54        AND PH.PICKING_HEADER_ID=PL.PICKING_HEADER_ID
55        AND PL.PICKING_LINE_ID=PLD.PICKING_LINE_ID
56        AND PLD.PICKING_LINE_DETAIL_ID=L.PICKING_LINE_DETAIL_ID
57        AND NOT EXISTS (SELECT 1
58                 FROM SO_PICKING_LINE_DETAILS SPLD,WSH_DELIVERIES WD
59                 WHERE SPLD.DELIVERY_ID=WD.DELIVERY_ID
60                 AND SPLD.PICKING_LINE_DETAIL_ID =L.PICKING_LINE_DETAIL_ID     
61                 AND WD.STATUS_CODE='OP'
62                )
63       GROUP BY H.BOL_NUMBER ,
64           H.PICKUP_NUMBER,
65           H.PICKUP_DATE ,
66           RAC.CUSTOMER_NAME ,
67           L.SALES_ORDER,
68           L.LINE_NUMBER,
69           L.GROSS_WEIGHT,
70           L.NET_WEIGHT,
71           L.TARE_WEIGHT           
72* ORDER BY decode('CUSTOMER','DATE',PICKUP_DATE,'CUSTOMER',CUSTOMER_NAME,'PN',PICKUP_NUMBER,SALES_ORDER)
SQL> /
OERROR at line 72:
ORA-01785: ORDER BY item must be the number of a SELECT-list expression
SQL> spool off;

Answer 1

Maybe you could try this:
select ...
from
   select ...
   from ..
   UNION
   select ...
   from ...
order by ...