Sorting in mysql (auto sort?)

Tea_J

Hi guys,

how does one set the PRIORITIES when sorting rows?

I have records that i primarily sort with dates (yyyymmdd)... i can't avoid 2 or more rows having the same dates.. that's ok.. however, everytime i select the rows with:

SELECT * FROM mytbl ORDER BY mydate DESC

mysql seems to return rows with the same date in different orders and randomly..

So how do i tell mysql to sort by MYDATE column PRIMARILY, and then a specific column secondarily?

(or is this one of the features of indexing?)

tea

devinemke

SELECT * FROM table ORDER BY primary, secondary

Tea_J

Originally posted by devinemke
SELECT * FROM table ORDER BY primary, secondary
[/B]

Sorry, stoopid me.. i meant to ask with sorting "with just primary" or one filter... I wish to have mysql automatically sort using the next best column so to speak.. will indexing take care of this?

tea

devinemke

Originally posted by Tea_J
i meant to ask with sorting "with just primary" or one filter... I wish to have mysql automatically sort using the next best column so to speak

this doesn't make any sense. you say "with just primary" but then you say "next best column" which would be...secondary, which is exactly what i posted before.

Tea_J

this doesn't make any sense. you say "with just primary" but then you say "next best column" which would be...secondary, which is exactly what i posted before.

allow me to clarify.

i wish to query with just"

"SELECT * FROM mytbl ORDER BY mydate DESC"

.. now should mysql return rows with THE SAME dates, i would like it to sort them via the next best column (to be specified by me)... how do i specify? any how except in the SELECT statement.. so i ask, will INDEXING a column make Mysql prioritise it when ordering results?

Lars_Berg

There is no default sort order. Using order by is the only way to determine in which order the records in a result set is returned.

Tea_J

ahh.. well, ok.. that's that then..

thanks everyone!!

tea