Forcing a sort order in SQL

[ansuz]

Hi,

I have a query in which I use a WHERE field IN (v1, v2, v3) clause. I would like the result to be sorted in the very same order than my values are listed. Is it possible to do that? If so, how?

Thanks!

[LordShryku]

Good question!

Now, if can be done, but unfortunately, you're going to have to list them out. Remember, this works from bottom to top, so....

SELECT   field
FROM     table
WHERE    field IN ('v1', 'v2', 'v3', 'v4')
ORDER BY field='v3'
         field='v2' 
         field='v4' 
         field='v1'

Now, provided all the results show up, this will return

field
v1
v4
v2
v3

HTH