Group Functions

Chapter 12
 Group Functions
• A group or aggregate function that:
– Operates on a set of rows
– Returns a single value
 Aggregate functions
 Ignore NULL values, except COUNT(*)

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Group Functions

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 MIN and MAX Functions
• The MIN function returns the minimum or lowest
value in a column from a group of rows
• The MAX function returns the maximum or highest
value in a column from a group of rows.
• Can be used with any data type
• NULL values are ignored

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MIN Function

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MAX Function

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MIN & MAX Functions with Dates

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 AVG Function
• Returns the average value in a column from a
group of rows

• Can only be used with numeric data types

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AVG Function

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 SUM Function
• Returns a single value containing the sum (total)
for a column in the result set

• Can only be used with numeric data types

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SUM Function

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 Types of COUNT Functions
• There are two variations of the COUNT function:
– COUNT(*)
 Counts total rows including those rows with a NULL value

– COUNT(column_name)
 Counts rows based on a specific column
 Does not count rows containing a NULL value
 Ignores NULL values

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COUNT(*) Function

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COUNT(column_name)
Function

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Using COUNT & SUM
Functions Together

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 Group Functions & NULLs
• Group functions ignore NULL values, except the
COUNT(*) function
• Be careful when using group functions with columns
that allow a null value

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Group Functions & NULLs
COUNT(*)

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Group Functions & NULLs
COUNT(column_name)

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 Group Functions & NULLs
COUNT(*) with IS NOT NULL

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 COALESCE with Group Functions
• When it is necessary to include rows with NULL
values, use the COALESCE function to add a value
to the NULL rows

• With group functions, the COALESCE function is

nested inside the group function

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COALESCE with Group Functions

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COALESCE with Group Functions

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 Using DISTINCT with Group Functions
• DISTINCT can be used with all group functions

• When the keyword DISTINCT is used with the

COUNT function, only non-duplicate values are
returned

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 Using DISTINCT
with COUNT Function

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 More Than One GROUP Function
• Can have more than one group function in the
SELECT clause, on the same or different columns
SELECT DECIMAL( AVG(salary), 7,2) AS avg_salary,
MIN(salary) AS low_salary,
MAX(salary) AS high_salary,
TO_CHAR( MIN(hire_date), 'mm/dd/yyyy' ) AS low_hire_date
FROM employees
WHERE department_id = 50;

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Group Function Caution

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 Rules for GROUP Functions

• Used in the SELECT clause

• Cannot be used in the WHERE clause
• Returns one result
• Group functions ignore NULL values except
COUNT(*)

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 Rules for GROUP Functions
• MIN and MAX can be used with any data type

• SUM and AVG can be used only with numeric data

types

• Use DISTINCT to suppress duplicate values

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 Chapter 11

GROUP BY / HAVING
 Question
• Write the SQL SELECT statement to return the
highest salary of all employees in the employees
table?

SELECT MAX(salary) FROM employees;

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 Question
• Write the SQL statement to return the highest
salary in each department?

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 SELECT Statements
• Until now, you would have to write a number of
different SQL statements to accomplish this:

SELECT MAX(salary) FROM employees WHERE dept_id = 50;

SELECT MAX(salary) FROM employees WHERE dept_id = 60;
SELECT MAX(salary) FROM employees WHERE dept_id = 90;

• And so on

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 GROUP BY and HAVING Clauses
• GROUP BY and HAVING clauses make this easier

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 GROUP BY and HAVING Clauses
• The GROUP BY clause works with group functions to
group data in the result set by columns
• The rows in the result set are grouped together
based on the columns specified in the GROUP BY
clause

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 GROUP BY Example
• Return the highest salary in each department
– Rows are grouped by department_id
– The MAX function is then applied to each group

• Which MAX salary belongs to which 35

 GROUP BY Example
• Include the GROUP BY column in the SELECT
column-list
• Cannot use a column alias in the GROUP BY clause

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 GROUP BY
• The GROUP BY clause divides the rows into smaller
groups by department_id

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 GROUP BY
• The MAX group function is applied to each group,
returning the max (highest) salary for each group

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GROUP BY

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 GROUP BY Clause on Multiple Columns
• GROUP BY clause may contain multiple columns

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 GROUP BY Clause
with Multiple Columns

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 GROUP BY Clause
with Multiple Columns

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HAVING Clause

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 HAVING Clause
• WHERE clause – Restricts rows
• HAVING clause – Restricts groups

• In a query using a GROUP BY and HAVING clause:

– The rows are first grouped
– Group functions are applied
– Only those groups matching the HAVING clause are
returned

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HAVING Clause

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 WHERE CLAUSE versus HAVING Clause
• WHERE clause restricts rows before the rows are
formed into groups

• HAVING clause restricts groups after the rows are

formed into groups

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 WHERE CLAUSE versus HAVING Clause
• Example 12-19
– WHERE clause used with the GROUP BY clause
– Restricts which rows are returned before the rows are
grouped by store code

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WHERE CLAUSE versus HAVING Clause

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 WHERE CLAUSE versus HAVING Clause
• Example 12-20
– Produces the same results as Example 12-19
– HAVING clause used with the GROUP BY clause
– Restricts groups in the results set

– Which method is better in this scenerio?

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WHERE CLAUSE versus HAVING Clause

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 WHERE CLAUSE versus HAVING Clause
• If possible, restrict rows using WHERE clause
before rows are grouped with GROUP BY clause

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 GROUP BY with NULL Values
• When using the GROUP BY clause, NULL values are
grouped as a separate group

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 GROUP BY
with NULL Values

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GROUP BY using COALESCE
with NULL Character Values

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GROUP BY using COALESCE
with NULL Numeric Values

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 GROUP BY Rule
• GROUP BY requires that any column listed in the
SELECT column-list that is not part of a group
function (SUM, AVG, MIN, MAX, COUNT) must be
listed in a GROUP BY clause
• What is wrong with this statement?

SELECT job_id, last_name, AVG(salary)

FROM employees
GROUP BY job_id;
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 GROUP BY Rule – No alias
• A column alias cannot be used in the GROUP BY
clause
• What is wrong with this example?

SELECT job_id, AVG(salary) AS AVG_SAL

FROM employees
GROUP BY AVG_SAL;

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SQL Processing Order of SQL Statement

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 Logical Processing Order of the
SELECT Statement
• The order determines when the objects defined in
one step are made available to the clauses in
subsequent steps
– When the query processor binds to the tables or views
defined in the FROM clause, these objects and their
columns are made available to all subsequent steps

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 Logical Processing Order of the
SELECT Statement
• The SELECT clause is step 5
– Any column aliases or derived columns defined in that
clause cannot be referenced by preceding clauses
– However, they can be referenced by subsequent clauses
such as the ORDER BY clause

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