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Home » SQL Server 2005 » Administering » does index also change the output?
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does index also change the output? Expand / Collapse
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opc.three
Posted Friday, March 01, 2013 11:54 AM


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GilaMonster (3/1/2013)
Or a TOP 1 (without specifying WITH TIES) where the column you're ordering by has duplicate values

Nice. That is a tricky example that might slip by even a good static code analysis rule because it depends on the uniqueness of the column.

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curious_sqldba
Posted Monday, March 04, 2013 8:59 AM
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I think i found the root cause here. The query which we were using brings top 15 records in asc order based on a column which has NULL or 0 0r 1. This was also one of the main columns in the index which did allow nulls, however if i change the index and not include this column then we the null column data would not be in the top 15.

Bottom line is that it was data issue, however i would still like to know from other folks that should i include my column which allows NULL values in my index or it just depends on business reason?

Thanks for your help.
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GilaMonster
Posted Monday, March 04, 2013 9:24 AM


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sqldba_newbie (3/4/2013)

I think i found the root cause here. The query which we were using brings top 15 records in asc order based on a column which has NULL or 0 0r 1.


Right, so ordering by a non-unique column and limiting the results. That's the case I showed to opc. Because that column's not unique, when you order by just that you have no guarantee of what order the rows will be within the 'null, 0 or 1' groupings, hence the index changes the assumed order (because it was never guaranteed) and appears to change the results.

The solution here would be to order by a second column that does define the 'correct' order of rows as you want to see them. Removing the column from the index is hiding the symptom, nothing more. There are lots of other things that can and will cause the order of rows to differ from what you assume they should be.

Gail Shaw
Microsoft Certified Master: SQL Server 2008, MVP
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