Group Islands of Contiguous Dates (SQL Spackle)

  • Thank you both. The expanding with Numbers table was my idea as well and I see on the second page of pointed discussion that this was the approach taken by Jeff. I am now looking at Itzik's article.

  • nice article Jeff!

    thanks!!!!


    [font="Times New Roman"]rfr.ferrari[/font]
    DBA - SQL Server 2008
    MCITP | MCTS

    remember is live or suffer twice!
    the period you fastest growing is the most difficult period of your life!
  • rfr.ferrari (2/18/2012)


    nice article Jeff!

    thanks!!!!

    You bet. Thank you for the feedback.

    --Jeff Moden


    RBAR is pronounced "ree-bar" and is a "Modenism" for Row-By-Agonizing-Row.
    First step towards the paradigm shift of writing Set Based code:
    ________Stop thinking about what you want to do to a ROW... think, instead, of what you want to do to a COLUMN.

    Change is inevitable... Change for the better is not.


    Helpful Links:
    How to post code problems
    How to Post Performance Problems
    Create a Tally Function (fnTally)

  • OMG! :w00t:

    I must have read this article 5 times at least and I never could quite get a grip on it.

    Finally, I've been able to apply it to a real problem! http://www.sqlservercentral.com/Forums/Topic1364849-392-1.aspx?Update=1 Not that I doubted its applicability, just couldn't quite achieve that nirvana of understanding.

    Not sure that I have yet, but at least this is a start. 😎

    As always, thanks Jeff!


    My mantra: No loops! No CURSORs! No RBAR! Hoo-uh![/I]

    My thought question: Have you ever been told that your query runs too fast?

    My advice:
    INDEXing a poor-performing query is like putting sugar on cat food. Yeah, it probably tastes better but are you sure you want to eat it?
    The path of least resistance can be a slippery slope. Take care that fixing your fixes of fixes doesn't snowball and end up costing you more than fixing the root cause would have in the first place.

    Need to UNPIVOT? Why not CROSS APPLY VALUES instead?[/url]
    Since random numbers are too important to be left to chance, let's generate some![/url]
    Learn to understand recursive CTEs by example.[/url]
    [url url=http://www.sqlservercentral.com/articles/St

  • Jeff Moden (1/16/2011)


    Sachin Nandanwar (1/16/2011)


    Well I just stumbled upon this article.I tried to do it using quirky update method and seems to be working but haven't tested it on a huge no of rows though.

    --=============================================================================

    -- Create the test data. This is NOT a part of the solution.

    -- This is virually instantaneous.

    --=============================================================================

    --===== Conditionally drop the test table to make reruns easier.

    IF OBJECT_ID('tempdb..#MyHead','U') IS NOT NULL

    DROP TABLE #MyHead

    ;

    GO

    --===== Create the test table

    CREATE TABLE #MyHead

    (SomeDate DATETIME, id int DEFAULT(0))

    ;

    --===== Populate the test table with test data

    INSERT INTO #MyHead

    (SomeDate)

    SELECT '2010-01-01' UNION ALL --1st "Group" of dates (StartDate and EndDate)

    SELECT '2010-01-01' UNION ALL --Duplicate date

    SELECT '2010-01-03' UNION ALL --2nd "Group" of dates (StartDate and EndDate)

    SELECT '2010-01-05' UNION ALL --3rd "Group" of dates (StartDate)

    SELECT '2010-01-06' UNION ALL --3rd "Group" of dates (EndDate)

    SELECT '2010-01-10' UNION ALL --4th "Group" of dates (StartDate)

    SELECT '2010-01-10' UNION ALL --Duplicate date

    SELECT '2010-01-11' UNION ALL --4th "Group" of dates

    SELECT '2010-01-11' UNION ALL --Duplicate date

    SELECT '2010-01-11' UNION ALL --Duplicate date

    SELECT '2010-01-12' --4th "Group" of dates (EndDate)

    ;

    declare @ordse int=0

    declare @somedate datetime=''

    update #MyHead set @ordse=ID=case when somedate=@somedate+1 or @somedate=somedate then @ordse+1 else @ordse-1 end,@somedate=somedate

    select min(somedate)min,max(somedate)max,DATEDIFF(dd,min(SomeDate)-1,max(SomeDate))Diff from

    (

    select *,id-ROW_NUMBER()over(order by (select 1))id1 from #MyHead

    )t group by id1 order by min(SomeDate)

    drop table #MyHead

    I realize the intentions are good here and thank you for that but there are a couple of problems with the code there. For one, it breaks several of the rules for doing a Quirky Update. It's tough enough for me to defend the use of the Quirky Update as it is. If you're going to use it and post such solutions, please follow the rules for its use. Thanks.

    Second, although the Quirky Update does the job, isn't a panacea and there's simply no need no need for it here. It requires the use of an extra column and would necessarily require the copying of data from a permanent table to a Temp Table if the column couldn't be added to the permanent table.

    Last but not least, since you still do a SELECT with aggregates, I believe you'll find that the Quirky Update method is actually a bit slower than conventional methods, in this case.

    I can confirm the last statement, namely that QU performs slower than Jeff's method.

    Because I was so conceptually challenged to understand what Jeff had done at first, I tried to see if I could apply QU to this case. While I did get it to work (QU I understand, including the rules :-)), it was definitely slower.


    My mantra: No loops! No CURSORs! No RBAR! Hoo-uh![/I]

    My thought question: Have you ever been told that your query runs too fast?

    My advice:
    INDEXing a poor-performing query is like putting sugar on cat food. Yeah, it probably tastes better but are you sure you want to eat it?
    The path of least resistance can be a slippery slope. Take care that fixing your fixes of fixes doesn't snowball and end up costing you more than fixing the root cause would have in the first place.

    Need to UNPIVOT? Why not CROSS APPLY VALUES instead?[/url]
    Since random numbers are too important to be left to chance, let's generate some![/url]
    Learn to understand recursive CTEs by example.[/url]
    [url url=http://www.sqlservercentral.com/articles/St

  • Sorry for the late reply, Dwain. Thanks for the research and the confirmation.

    --Jeff Moden


    RBAR is pronounced "ree-bar" and is a "Modenism" for Row-By-Agonizing-Row.
    First step towards the paradigm shift of writing Set Based code:
    ________Stop thinking about what you want to do to a ROW... think, instead, of what you want to do to a COLUMN.

    Change is inevitable... Change for the better is not.


    Helpful Links:
    How to post code problems
    How to Post Performance Problems
    Create a Tally Function (fnTally)

  • Very nice, thanks for the article. CTE's can be really confusing.

  • Thank you for the feedback, Nelson, and welcome aboard!

    --Jeff Moden


    RBAR is pronounced "ree-bar" and is a "Modenism" for Row-By-Agonizing-Row.
    First step towards the paradigm shift of writing Set Based code:
    ________Stop thinking about what you want to do to a ROW... think, instead, of what you want to do to a COLUMN.

    Change is inevitable... Change for the better is not.


    Helpful Links:
    How to post code problems
    How to Post Performance Problems
    Create a Tally Function (fnTally)

  • how a simply clever trick just blows your mind.

    I wonder how many people only read this Spackle once and really got it.

    I just copied it to ssms and walked it through reading it, sat back and sipped my tea ( as if I were Sherlok Holmes handling a one pipe problem ) .

    Not the first time Jeff succeeds in astonishing me with a simple solution for a quite commom problem.

    Thanks again for sharing it all, Jeff

    Johan

    Learn to play, play to learn !

    Dont drive faster than your guardian angel can fly ...
    but keeping both feet on the ground wont get you anywhere :w00t:

    - How to post Performance Problems
    - How to post data/code to get the best help[/url]

    - How to prevent a sore throat after hours of presenting ppt

    press F1 for solution, press shift+F1 for urgent solution 😀

    Need a bit of Powershell? How about this

    Who am I ? Sometimes this is me but most of the time this is me

  • Nice article!

    I immediately applied the code (with minor changes) on another database, and it worked!

    Thanks Jeff.

    Regards,

    IgorMi

    Igor Micev,My blog: www.igormicev.com

  • Thanks for the feedback, Johan. It's always a pleasure to hear from you.

    --Jeff Moden


    RBAR is pronounced "ree-bar" and is a "Modenism" for Row-By-Agonizing-Row.
    First step towards the paradigm shift of writing Set Based code:
    ________Stop thinking about what you want to do to a ROW... think, instead, of what you want to do to a COLUMN.

    Change is inevitable... Change for the better is not.


    Helpful Links:
    How to post code problems
    How to Post Performance Problems
    Create a Tally Function (fnTally)

  • IgorMi (10/4/2013)


    Nice article!

    I immediately applied the code (with minor changes) on another database, and it worked!

    Thanks Jeff.

    Regards,

    IgorMi

    Very cool! Thanks for the feedback. I love success stories.

    --Jeff Moden


    RBAR is pronounced "ree-bar" and is a "Modenism" for Row-By-Agonizing-Row.
    First step towards the paradigm shift of writing Set Based code:
    ________Stop thinking about what you want to do to a ROW... think, instead, of what you want to do to a COLUMN.

    Change is inevitable... Change for the better is not.


    Helpful Links:
    How to post code problems
    How to Post Performance Problems
    Create a Tally Function (fnTally)

  • I skimmed the article but I couldn't really identify what's new in this re-publish.

    I don't suppose you could give us a quick synopsis Jeff?


    My mantra: No loops! No CURSORs! No RBAR! Hoo-uh![/I]

    My thought question: Have you ever been told that your query runs too fast?

    My advice:
    INDEXing a poor-performing query is like putting sugar on cat food. Yeah, it probably tastes better but are you sure you want to eat it?
    The path of least resistance can be a slippery slope. Take care that fixing your fixes of fixes doesn't snowball and end up costing you more than fixing the root cause would have in the first place.

    Need to UNPIVOT? Why not CROSS APPLY VALUES instead?[/url]
    Since random numbers are too important to be left to chance, let's generate some![/url]
    Learn to understand recursive CTEs by example.[/url]
    [url url=http://www.sqlservercentral.com/articles/St

  • dwain.c (10/6/2013)


    I skimmed the article but I couldn't really identify what's new in this re-publish.

    I don't suppose you could give us a quick synopsis Jeff?

    Apologies for the VERY late reply, Dwain. No doubt that by now you've figured out that SQL Server Central frequently republishes articles that have had no changes at all. To wit, most articles that show up on Fridays were previously published.

    --Jeff Moden


    RBAR is pronounced "ree-bar" and is a "Modenism" for Row-By-Agonizing-Row.
    First step towards the paradigm shift of writing Set Based code:
    ________Stop thinking about what you want to do to a ROW... think, instead, of what you want to do to a COLUMN.

    Change is inevitable... Change for the better is not.


    Helpful Links:
    How to post code problems
    How to Post Performance Problems
    Create a Tally Function (fnTally)

  • Jeff Moden (6/28/2014)


    dwain.c (10/6/2013)


    I skimmed the article but I couldn't really identify what's new in this re-publish.

    I don't suppose you could give us a quick synopsis Jeff?

    Apologies for the VERY late reply, Dwain. No doubt that by now you've figured out that SQL Server Central frequently republishes articles that have had no changes at all. To wit, most articles that show up on Fridays were previously published.

    Better late than never.

    Had that happen to one of mine, so I know the drill.


    My mantra: No loops! No CURSORs! No RBAR! Hoo-uh![/I]

    My thought question: Have you ever been told that your query runs too fast?

    My advice:
    INDEXing a poor-performing query is like putting sugar on cat food. Yeah, it probably tastes better but are you sure you want to eat it?
    The path of least resistance can be a slippery slope. Take care that fixing your fixes of fixes doesn't snowball and end up costing you more than fixing the root cause would have in the first place.

    Need to UNPIVOT? Why not CROSS APPLY VALUES instead?[/url]
    Since random numbers are too important to be left to chance, let's generate some![/url]
    Learn to understand recursive CTEs by example.[/url]
    [url url=http://www.sqlservercentral.com/articles/St

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