List Remaining Days of the Week with SQL

SQL Puzzle of the day:

List all days from today till the last day of the week. The query should work regardless of the regional settings that affect first day of the week, whether it is Sunday, Monday, or any other day.

The trick here is not to attempt figuring out the current day of the week, whether it is Friday, Saturday or anything else. We need to apply a date function that returns the same value (or is constantly staying in the same interval) for all the days within the same week. The following 3 strategies are all based on such functions: TRUNC and TO_CHAR.

Strategy #1: Using TRUNC with ‘D’ format

SELECT SYSDATE + LEVEL - 1 AS Day
FROM dual
CONNECT BY TRUNC(SYSDATE, 'D') = TRUNC(SYSDATE + LEVEL - 1, 'D')

Strategy #2: Using SIGN and TO_CHAR with ‘D’ format

SELECT SYSDATE + LEVEL - 1 AS Day
FROM dual
CONNECT BY CONNECT BY 
   SIGN(TO_CHAR(SYSDATE + LEVEL - 1, 'D') -
        TO_CHAR(SYSDATE + LEVEL - 2, 'D')) =1

Strategy #3: Using TRUNC and calculating the week end by adding 7 to the first day

SELECT SYSDATE + LEVEL - 1 AS Day
FROM dual
CONNECT BY TRUNC(SYSDATE+LEVEL)-TRUNC(SYSDATE,'D')<=7

Here is a useful link to Oracle documentation that explains different format strings:

https://docs.oracle.com/en/database/oracle/oracle-database/18/sqlrf/ROUND-and-TRUNC-Date-Functions.html#GUID-8E10AB76-21DA-490F-A389-023B648DDEF8

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3 Solutions to 2018 Oracle SQL Puzzle of the Week #15

800 Phone Puzzle

For a given 800 phone number (like 1-800-123-4567) find all number-letter representations.

• Use a single SELECT statement only.
• Only last 4 digits of the phone number have to be replaced with letters.
• Exactly 1 letter (out of 4) must be vowel,  the rest – consonant
• The following table shows all possible mappings:

Digit	Maps to
1	1
2	A, B, C
3	D, E, F
4	G, H, I
5	J, K, L
6	M, N, O
7	P, Q, R, S
8	T, U, V
9	W, X, Y, Z
0	0

Solutions:

Essentially, all solutions below share the same idea of generating the letter based phone numbers. The differences are in a way the mapping CTE is created and a way to limit the number of vowels to 1.

Solution #1. Compact form of creating the map CTE with recursive check for the vowels:

WITH map AS (
SELECT digit, letter, '4357' phone
FROM TABLE(sys.odcivarchar2list('00','11','2ABC','3DEF','4GHI',
                                '5JKL','6MNO','7PQRS','8TUV','9WXYZ')) t,
 LATERAL(SELECT SUBSTR(t.column_value,1,1) digit, 
                SUBSTR(t.column_value,1+LEVEL,1) letter
         FROM dual
         CONNECT BY SUBSTR(t.column_value,1+LEVEL,1) IS NOT NULL) x
), res(str, lvl, phone,has_vowel) AS ( 
SELECT letter, 1, phone, 
 CASE WHEN letter IN ('A','E','I','O','U') THEN 1 ELSE 0 END
FROM map 
WHERE SUBSTR(phone,1,1)=TO_CHAR(map.digit) 
UNION ALL 
SELECT res.str || letter, res.lvl+1, res.phone,
       CASE WHEN letter IN ('A','E','I','O','U') 
               OR res.has_vowel=1 THEN 1 ELSE 0 END
FROM res JOIN map ON SUBSTR(res.phone, res.lvl+1,1)=TO_CHAR(map.digit) 
WHERE res.lvl+1<=LENGTH(res.phone) 
  AND NOT (letter IN ('A','E','I','O','U') AND res.has_vowel=1)
) 
SELECT '1-800-123-' || str phone 
FROM res
WHERE lvl=LENGTH(phone)
  AND has_vowel=1

Solution #2. Using more efficient way of creating the map CTE :

WITH x AS (
SELECT ROWNUM-1 digit,COLUMN_VALUE letters
FROM TABLE(sys.odcivarchar2list('0','1','ABC','DEF','GHI','JKL',
                                'MNO','PQRS','TUV','WXYZ'))
), map AS (
SELECT digit, SUBSTR(letters, level, 1) letter, '4357' phone
FROM x
CONNECT BY SUBSTR(letters, level, 1) IS NOT NULL
       AND PRIOR digit = digit 
       AND PRIOR DBMS_RANDOM.VALUE IS NOT NULL
), res(str, lvl, phone,has_vowel) AS ( 
SELECT letter, 1, phone, 
       CASE WHEN letter IN ('A','E','I','O','U') THEN 1 ELSE 0 END
FROM map 
WHERE SUBSTR(phone,1,1)=TO_CHAR(map.digit) 
UNION ALL 
SELECT res.str || letter, res.lvl+1, res.phone,
       CASE WHEN letter IN ('A','E','I','O','U') 
              OR res.has_vowel=1 THEN 1 ELSE 0 END
FROM res JOIN map ON SUBSTR(res.phone, res.lvl+1,1)=TO_CHAR(map.digit) 
WHERE res.lvl+1<=LENGTH(res.phone) 
  AND NOT (letter IN ('A','E','I','O','U') AND res.has_vowel=1)
) 
SELECT '1-800-123-' || str phone 
FROM res
WHERE lvl=LENGTH(phone)
 AND has_vowel=1

Solution #3. Much more efficient way of creating the map CTE and using Regular Expression to limit the vowels :

WITH d AS ( 
SELECT LEVEL+1 n, CASE WHEN LEVEL+1 IN (7,9) THEN 4 ELSE 3 END cnt,
       '4357' phone
FROM dual 
CONNECT BY LEVEL<=8 
), a AS ( 
SELECT CHR(ASCII('A')+LEVEL-1) letter, ROWNUM rn 
FROM dual 
CONNECT BY CHR(ASCII('A')+LEVEL-1)<='Z' 
), x AS ( 
SELECT n, 
       1+NVL(SUM(cnt) OVER(ORDER BY n ROWS BETWEEN UNBOUNDED PRECEDING 
                                           AND 1 PRECEDING),0) c1, 
       SUM(cnt) OVER(ORDER BY n) c2,
       phone
FROM d 
), map AS ( 
SELECT n digit, letter, x.phone
FROM x JOIN a ON a.rn BETWEEN x.c1 AND x.c2 
UNION 
SELECT ROWNUM-1, TO_CHAR(ROWNUM-1), x.phone
FROM x
WHERE ROWNUM<=2
), res(str, lvl) AS ( 
SELECT letter, 1 
FROM map 
WHERE SUBSTR(map.phone,1,1)=TO_CHAR(map.digit) 
UNION ALL 
SELECT res.str || letter, res.lvl+1
FROM res JOIN map ON SUBSTR(map.phone, res.lvl+1,1)=TO_CHAR(map.digit) 
WHERE res.lvl+1<=LENGTH(map.phone) 
 AND REGEXP_COUNT(res.str || letter,'[AEIOU]')<=1
) 
SELECT str phone 
FROM res 
WHERE lvl=4
 AND REGEXP_COUNT(str,'[AEIOU]')=1

You can execute the above SQL statements in Oracle Live SQL environment.
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12 Solutions to 2018 Oracle SQL Puzzle of the Week #10

Top Salary Puzzle

Find highest salary in each department without using MAX function

• Use a single SELECT statement only.
• For an added complexity (optional): try not using ANY functions at all (neither group, nor analytic, not even scalar)

Expected Result:

DEPTNO	MAX_SAL
10	5000
20	3000
30	2850

Solutions:

We will begin with a simpler problem that does allow us using functions.

Solution #1. Using MIN function

Credit to: Boobal Ganesan

MIN function can be seen as an opposite to the MAX, so it is trivial to employ it here:

SELECT deptno, -MIN(-sal) max_sal
FROM scott.emp
GROUP BY deptno
ORDER BY 1;

Solution #2. Using LISTAGG and REGEXP_SUBSTR functions

This is an “order” based approach that sorts the values within a concatenated string and then uses regular expression to cut the first token.

SELECT deptno,
       REGEXP_SUBSTR(LISTAGG(sal,',') 
                     WITHIN GROUP(ORDER BY sal DESC),'[^,]+',1,1) max_sal
FROM scott.emp
GROUP BY deptno
ORDER BY 1;

Solution #3. Using AVG(…) KEEP() group function

This is another “order” based strategy whete AVG function can be replaced with MIN or any other aggregate function that returns a single value out of a set of identical ones.

SELECT deptno, AVG(sal) KEEP(DENSE_RANK FIRST ORDER BY sal DESC) max_sal
FROM scott.emp
GROUP BY deptno
ORDER BY 1;

Solution #4. Using Analytic function and CTE

ROW_NUMBER is chosen in this approach, though other analytic functions, such as RANK, DENSE_RANK, LEAD, LAG, FIRST_VALUE, etc can be used here (with some changes) as well. ROW_NUMBER is convenient to use as it allows to avoid DISTINCT option.

WITH x AS (
SELECT deptno, sal, 
       ROW_NUMBER()OVER(PARTITION BY deptno ORDER BY sal DESC) rn
FROM scott.emp
)
SELECT deptno, sal max_sal
FROM x
WHERE rn=1
ORDER BY 1;

Solution #5. Using MATCH_RECOGNIZE clause

Credit to: KATAYAMA NAOTO

This approach is similar to the previous one if we used LAG analytic function: which would return NULL for the top record.

SELECT deptno, sal max_sal 
FROM scott.emp
MATCH_RECOGNIZE (
PARTITION BY deptno
ORDER BY sal DESC
ALL ROWS PER MATCH
PATTERN (ISNULL)
DEFINE ISNULL AS PREV(ISNULL.sal) IS NULL
);

Solution #6. CONNECT BY and CONNECT_BY_ISLEAF while avoiding Analytic functions

This approach is a bit artificial. We could have used DISTINCT and avoid START WITH clause completely.  CTEs x and y are used to simulate ROW_NUMBER analytic function.

WITH x AS (
SELECT deptno, sal
FROM scott.emp
ORDER BY 1,2
), y AS (
SELECT x.*, ROWNUM rn
FROM x
)
SELECT deptno, sal
FROM y
WHERE CONNECT_BY_ISLEAF=1
CONNECT BY deptno=PRIOR deptno
       AND rn=PRIOR rn+1
START WITH (deptno, rn) IN (SELECT deptno, MIN(rn)
                            FROM y
                            GROUP BY deptno);

Solution #7. Using MODEL clause with ROW_NUMBER function

This method is pretty much the same as in the Solution #4 above. The RETURN UPDATED ROWS and dummy measures are used to only return rows with rn=1.

SELECT deptno, max_sal
FROM scott.emp
MODEL
RETURN UPDATED ROWS
PARTITION BY (deptno)
DIMENSION BY (ROW_NUMBER() OVER(PARTITION BY deptno ORDER BY sal DESC) rn)
MEASURES(sal max_sal, 0 dummy)
RULES(
 dummy[1]=1
)
ORDER BY 1;

The following 5 solutions (##8-12) satisfy the “added complexity” term and do NOT use any functions at all.

Solution #8. Using ALL predicate

Generally speaking, >=ALL filter is identical to =(SELECT MAX() …). See my book for more detailed explanations.

SELECT deptno, sal max_sal
FROM scott.emp a
WHERE sal>=ALL(SELECT sal
               FROM scott.emp
               WHERE deptno=a.deptno)
GROUP BY deptno, sal
ORDER BY 1;

Solution #9. Using NOT EXISTS predicate

See Chapter 10 of my book for details.

SELECT deptno, sal max_sal
FROM scott.emp a
WHERE NOT EXISTS(SELECT 1
                 FROM scott.emp
                 WHERE deptno=a.deptno
                   AND sal>a.sal)
GROUP BY deptno, sal
ORDER BY 1;

Solution #10. Using Outer-Join with IS NULL filter

This approach is also covered very deeply in my book, Chapter 10.

SELECT a.deptno, a.sal max_sal
FROM scott.emp a LEFT JOIN scott.emp b ON a.deptno=b.deptno
                                      AND b.sal>a.sal 
WHERE b.empno IS NULL
GROUP BY a.deptno, a.sal
ORDER BY 1;

Solution #11. Using MINUS and ANY predicate

MINUS serves 2 purposes: it removes non-top rows and eliminates duplicates, so no DISTINCT option (or GROUP BY) is required.

SELECT deptno, sal max_sal 
FROM scott.emp
MINUS
SELECT deptno, sal
FROM scott.emp a
WHERE sal<ANY(SELECT sal 
              FROM scott.emp
              WHERE deptno=a.deptno);

Solution #12. Using MINUS and EXISTS predicate

Last two approaches covered in the drill from the Chapter 10 of my book.

SELECT deptno, sal max_sal 
FROM scott.emp
MINUS
SELECT deptno, sal
FROM scott.emp a
WHERE EXISTS(SELECT 1 
             FROM scott.emp
             WHERE deptno=a.deptno
               AND sal>a.sal);

You can execute the above SQL statements in Oracle Live SQL environment.
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8 Solutions to 2018 Oracle SQL Puzzle of the Week #9

Recent employment Puzzle

For each location, show 2 most recently hired employees

• Use a single SELECT statement only.
• ename1 and hiredate1 columns should correspond the latest hired employee while ename1 and hiredate1 columns – the previous one

Expected Result:

LOC	ENAME1	HIREDATE1	ENAME2	HIREDATE2
NEW YORK	MILLER	23-JAN-82	KING	17-NOV-81
CHICAGO	JAMES	03-DEC-81	MARTIN	28-SEP-81
DALLAS	ADAMS	23-MAY-87	SCOTT	19-APR-87

Solutions:

Solution #1. Using Self-Join and MAX functions

SELECT d.loc, 
     MAX(e1.ename) KEEP(DENSE_RANK FIRST ORDER BY e1.hiredate DESC) ename1, 
     MAX(e1.hiredate) hiredate1, 
     MAX(e2.ename) KEEP(DENSE_RANK FIRST ORDER BY e2.hiredate DESC) ename2, 
     MAX(e2.hiredate) hiredate2 
FROM scott.emp e1 JOIN scott.emp e2 ON e1.deptno=e2.deptno 
 AND e1.hiredate>=e2.hiredate 
 AND e1.ROWID!=e2.ROWID 
                  JOIN scott.dept d ON e1.deptno=d.deptno 
GROUP BY d.loc;

Solution #2. Using LISTAGG and REGEXP_SUBSTR functions

SELECT d.loc, 
       MAX(ename) KEEP(DENSE_RANK FIRST ORDER BY hiredate DESC) ename1,
       MAX(hiredate) hiredate1, 
       REGEXP_SUBSTR(LISTAGG(ename, '|') WITHIN GROUP (ORDER BY hiredate DESC),
 '[^|]+',1,2) ename2,
       REGEXP_SUBSTR(LISTAGG(hiredate, '|') WITHIN GROUP (ORDER BY hiredate DESC),
 '[^|]+',1,2) hiredate2
FROM scott.emp e JOIN scott.dept d ON e.deptno=d.deptno
GROUP BY d.loc
ORDER BY 1;

Solution #3. Using CTE, ROW_NUMBER, and Self-Join

WITH x AS (
SELECT d.loc, e.ename, e.hiredate, 
       ROW_NUMBER()OVER(PARTITION BY d.deptno ORDER BY e.hiredate DESC) rn
FROM scott.emp e JOIN scott.dept d ON e.deptno=d.deptno
)
SELECT a.loc, a.ename ename1, a.hiredate hiredate1,
              b.ename ename2, b.hiredate hiredate2
FROM x a JOIN x b ON a.loc=b.loc AND a.rn=1 AND b.rn=2;

Solution #4. Using Pivot

WITH x AS (
SELECT d.loc, e.ename, e.hiredate, 
       ROW_NUMBER()OVER(PARTITION BY d.deptno ORDER BY e.hiredate DESC) rn
FROM scott.emp e JOIN scott.dept d ON e.deptno=d.deptno
)
SELECT loc, e1_ename AS ename1, e1_hdate AS hiredate1,
       e2_ename AS ename2, e2_hdate AS hiredate2
FROM x
PIVOT (
MAX(ename) ename, MAX(hiredate) hdate FOR rn IN (1 AS e1, 2 AS e2) 
)
ORDER BY 1;

Solution #5. Simulating Pivot with MAX and DECODE functions

WITH x AS (
SELECT d.loc, e.ename, e.hiredate, 
       ROW_NUMBER()OVER(PARTITION BY d.deptno ORDER BY e.hiredate DESC) rn
FROM scott.emp e JOIN scott.dept d ON e.deptno=d.deptno
)
SELECT loc, 
       MAX(DECODE(rn,1,ename)) ename1, 
       MAX(DECODE(rn,1,hiredate)) hiredate1,
       MAX(DECODE(rn,2,ename)) ename2, 
       MAX(DECODE(rn,2,hiredate)) hiredate2
FROM x
GROUP BY loc
ORDER BY 1;

Solution #6. Using CONNECT BY

WITH x AS (
SELECT d.loc, e.ename, e.hiredate, 
       ROW_NUMBER()OVER(PARTITION BY d.deptno ORDER BY e.hiredate DESC) rn
FROM scott.emp e JOIN scott.dept d ON e.deptno=d.deptno
)
SELECT loc, PRIOR ename ename1, PRIOR hiredate hiredate1, 
       ename ename2, hiredate hriedate2
FROM x
WHERE rn=2
START WITH rn=1
CONNECT BY loc=PRIOR loc
       AND rn=PRIOR rn+1;

Solution #7. Using LEAD and ROW_NUMBER Analytic functions

WITH x AS (
SELECT d.loc, e.ename ename1, e.hiredate hiredate1, 
 LEAD(e.ename,1) OVER(PARTITION BY d.deptno ORDER BY e.hiredate DESC) ename2,
 LEAD(e.hiredate,1) OVER(PARTITION BY d.deptno ORDER BY e.hiredate DESC) hiredate2,
 ROW_NUMBER()OVER(PARTITION BY d.deptno ORDER BY e.hiredate DESC) rn
FROM scott.emp e JOIN scott.dept d ON e.deptno=d.deptno
) 
SELECT loc, ename1, hiredate1, ename2, hiredate2
FROM x
WHERE rn=1
ORDER BY 1;

Solution #8. Using Model Clause:

SELECT loc, ename1, hiredate1, ename2, hiredate2
FROM scott.emp e JOIN scott.dept d ON e.deptno=d.deptno
MODEL
RETURN UPDATED ROWS
PARTITION BY (d.loc)
DIMENSION BY (
   ROW_NUMBER()OVER(PARTITION BY d.loc ORDER BY e.hiredate DESC) AS rn
)
MEASURES(
    ename AS ename1, hiredate AS hiredate1, 
    ename AS ename2, hiredate AS hiredate2
)
RULES(
    ename2[1]   =ename1[2],
    hiredate2[1]=hiredate1[2]
)
ORDER BY 1;

You can execute the above SQL statements in Oracle Live SQL environment.
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7 Solutions to 2018 Oracle SQL Puzzle of the Week #8

Triangle Numbers Puzzle

Generate a sequence of first N triangle numbers: 1, 3 (=1+2); 6=(1+2+3), 10=(1+2+3+4), etc

• Use a single SELECT statement only.
• Do not use any mathematical formulas, except for the sequence definition.

Expected Result (for N=10):

N	TRAINGLE_N
1	1
2	3
3	6
4	10
5	15
6	21
7	28
8	36
9	45
10	55

Solutions:

Solution #1: Using Cumulative SUM analytic function:

SELECT LEVEL n, SUM(LEVEL) OVER(ORDER BY LEVEL) triangle_n
FROM dual
CONNECT BY LEVEL<=10

Solution #2: Using MODEL clause with ITERATE:

SELECT n, tn triangle_n
FROM dual
MODEL
RETURN UPDATED ROWS
DIMENSION BY (0 AS N)
MEASURES(0 AS TN)
RULES ITERATE(10)
(TN[ITERATION_NUMBER+1]=TN[cv()-1]+ITERATION_NUMBER+1)

Solution #3: Using MODEL clause over generated range:

WITH x AS (
SELECT ROWNUM-1 rn
FROM dual
CONNECT BY LEVEL<=11
)
SELECT n, tn triangle_n
FROM x
MODEL
RETURN UPDATED ROWS
DIMENSION BY (rn)
MEASURES(0 AS tn, rn AS n)
RULES(tn[rn>=1]=tn[CV()-1]+n[CV()])

Solution #4: Using XMLQUERY and SYS_CONNECT_BY_PATH functions:

Credit to Boobal Ganesan

SELECT LEVEL n,
       XMLQUERY(SYS_CONNECT_BY_PATH(LEVEL,'+') 
                RETURNING CONTENT).getnumberval() triangle_n
FROM dual
CONNECT BY level <= 10

Solution #5: Using Recursive CTE:

WITH x(n,triangle_n) AS (
SELECT 1,1
FROM dual
UNION ALL
SELECT n+1, triangle_n+n+1
FROM x
WHERE n<10
)
SELECT *
FROM x

Solution #6: Using CTE and Self-Join:

WITH x AS (
SELECT ROWNUM n
FROM dual
CONNECT BY LEVEL<=10
)
SELECT a.n, SUM(b.n) triangle_n
FROM x a JOIN x b ON a.n>=b.n
GROUP BY a.n
ORDER BY 1

Solution #7: Using CTE and LATERAL view:

WITH x AS (
SELECT ROWNUM n
FROM dual
CONNECT BY LEVEL<=10
)
SELECT a.n, t.triangle_n
FROM x a, LATERAL(SELECT SUM(b.n) triangle_n
 FROM x b
 WHERE b.n<=a.n) t

You can execute the above SQL statements in Oracle Live SQL environment.
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9 Solutions to 2018 Oracle SQL Puzzle of the Week #7

Namesake Puzzle

Show groups of employees having the same last name.

• Use a single SELECT statement only
• Use hr.employees table

Solutions:

Solution #1: Using Subquery with HAVING clause:

SELECT first_name, last_name, department_id, employee_id 
FROM hr.employees 
WHERE last_name IN (SELECT last_name 
                    FROM hr.employees 
		    GROUP BY last_name 
		    HAVING COUNT(*)>1) 
ORDER BY 2,1

Solution #2: Using Multi-Column Subquery with NO HAVING clause

SELECT first_name, last_name, department_id, employee_id 
FROM hr.employees 
WHERE (last_name, 1) IN (SELECT last_name, SIGN(COUNT(*)-1) 
                         FROM hr.employees 
			 GROUP BY last_name) 
ORDER BY 2,1

Solution #3: Using Subquery with IN operator

SELECT first_name, last_name, department_id, employee_id 
FROM hr.employees a 
WHERE last_name IN (SELECT b.last_name 
                    FROM hr.employees b 
		    WHERE a.employee_id!=b.employee_id) 
ORDER BY 2,1

Solution #4: Using Self-Join with duplicate elimination in GROUP BY

SELECT a.first_name, a.last_name, a.department_id, a.employee_id 
FROM hr.employees a JOIN hr.employees b ON a.last_name=b.last_name 
                                       AND a.employee_id!=b.employee_id 
GROUP BY a.first_name, a.last_name, a.department_id, a.employee_id 
ORDER BY 2,1

Solution #5: Using a filter by COUNT analytic function with PARTITION BY

WITH x AS ( 
SELECT first_name, last_name, department_id, employee_id,  
       COUNT(*) OVER(PARTITION BY last_name) cnt 
FROM hr.employees 
)	 
SELECT first_name, last_name, department_id, employee_id 
FROM x 
WHERE cnt>1 
ORDER BY 2,1

Solution #6: Mimicking COUNT analytic function with MODEL clause

(credit to Naoto Katayama)

WITH x AS ( 
SELECT first_name, last_name, department_id, employee_id, cnt 
FROM hr.employees 
MODEL 
RETURN UPDATED ROWS 
DIMENSION BY (last_name, employee_id) 
MEASURES(first_name, department_id, 0 AS cnt) 
RULES (cnt[ANY, ANY]=COUNT(*)[CV(), ANY]) 
) 
SELECT first_name, last_name, department_id, employee_id 
FROM x 
WHERE cnt>1 
ORDER BY 2,1

Solution #7: Filtering by LEAD and LAG analytic functions

WITH x AS ( 
SELECT first_name, last_name, department_id, employee_id,  
       LAG (last_name,1) OVER(ORDER BY last_name) lag_name, 
       LEAD(last_name,1) OVER(ORDER BY last_name) lead_name 
FROM hr.employees 
)	 
SELECT first_name, last_name, department_id, employee_id 
FROM x 
WHERE last_name IN (lag_name, lead_name) 
ORDER BY 2,1

Solution #8: Using MODEL clause with dummy measure for SIGN over analytic function expression

SELECT first_name, last_name, department_id, employee_id
FROM hr.employees 
MODEL 
RETURN UPDATED ROWS 
PARTITION BY (last_name) 
DIMENSION BY (SIGN(COUNT(*) OVER(PARTITION BY last_name)-1) AS n, 
              employee_id) 
MEASURES(first_name, department_id, 0 AS dummy) 
RULES (dummy[1, ANY]=1) 
ORDER BY 2,1

Solution #9: Using UNPIVOT with DISTINCT option over CONNECT BY with PRIOR

WITH x AS (
SELECT first_name curr_first, last_name, department_id curr_dept, employee_id curr_id, 
       PRIOR first_name prior_first, PRIOR department_id prior_dept, PRIOR employee_id prior_id
FROM hr.employees
WHERE level=2
CONNECT BY last_name=PRIOR last_name AND employee_id>PRIOR employee_id
)
SELECT DISTINCT first_name, last_name, department_id, employee_id
FROM x
UNPIVOT( 
    (first_name, department_id, employee_id)  for dummy IN ((curr_first, curr_dept, curr_id),
                                                            (prior_first,prior_dept,prior_id))
)
ORDER BY 2,1;

You can execute the above SQL statements in Oracle Live SQL environment.
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7 Solutions to 2018 Oracle SQL Puzzle of the Week #6

Conference Team Puzzle

Research department from Dallas (#20) needs to delegate a team of 3 to a annual conference. Create a list of all possible teams of 3 employees from that department.

• Use a single SELECT statement only
• Use scott.emp table
• Exactly 3 employees (no repetitions) must be presented for each team

Solutions:

Essentially, all 6 solutions represent 6 different ways how you can UNPIVOT a result set. Some of those are fairly standard and well known (#3, #4, and #7) while the others are quite tricky (#2, #5, and #6).

Solution #1: Using UNPIVOT clause:

WITH t AS (  --#1: Using UNPIVOT 
SELECT ename, empno 
FROM scott.emp 
WHERE deptno=20 
), x AS ( 
SELECT ROWNUM team_no, t1.ename e1, t2.ename e2, t3.ename e3 
FROM t t1 JOIN t t2 ON t1.empno>t2.empno 
          JOIN t t3 ON t2.empno>t3.empno 
) 
SELECT team_no, team_member 
FROM x 
UNPIVOT (team_member FOR dummy IN (e1,e2,e3) ) 
ORDER BY 1,2

Solution #2: Mimicking UNPIVOT with IN operator

WITH t AS (  --#2: Mimicking UNPIVOT with IN operator 
SELECT ename, empno 
FROM scott.emp 
WHERE deptno=20 
), x AS ( 
SELECT ROWNUM team_no, t1.ename e1, t2.ename e2, t3.ename e3 
FROM t t1 JOIN t t2 ON t1.empno>t2.empno 
          JOIN t t3 ON t2.empno>t3.empno 
) 
SELECT x.team_no, t.ename team_member 
FROM t JOIN x ON t.ename IN (x.e1, x.e2, x.e3) 
ORDER BY 1,2

Solution #3: Mimicking UNPIVOT with MODEL clause

WITH t AS ( --#3: Mimicking UNPIVOT with MODEL clause 
SELECT ename, empno 
FROM scott.emp 
WHERE deptno=20 
), x AS ( 
SELECT ROWNUM team_no, t1.ename e1, t2.ename e2, t3.ename e3 
FROM t t1 JOIN t t2 ON t1.empno>t2.empno 
          JOIN t t3 ON t2.empno>t3.empno 
) 
SELECT team_no, team_member 
FROM x 
MODEL 
PARTITION BY (team_no) 
DIMENSION BY (1 AS dummy) 
MEASURES (e1 AS team_member, e2, e3) 
RULES( 
    team_member[2]=e2[1], 
    team_member[3]=e3[1] 
) 
ORDER BY 1,2

Solution #4: Mimicking UNPIVOT with UNION operators

WITH t AS ( --#4: Mimicking UNPIVOT with UNIONs 
SELECT ename, empno 
FROM scott.emp 
WHERE deptno=20 
), x AS ( 
SELECT ROWNUM team_no, t1.ename e1, t2.ename e2, t3.ename e3 
FROM t t1 JOIN t t2 ON t1.empno>t2.empno 
          JOIN t t3 ON t2.empno>t3.empno 
) 
SELECT team_no, e1 team_member 
FROM x 
UNION  
SELECT team_no, e2 team_member 
FROM x 
UNION  
SELECT team_no, e3 team_member 
FROM x

Solution #5: Mimicking UNPIVOT with DECODE and Cartesian Product

WITH t AS ( --#5: Mimicking UNPIVOT with DECODE and Cartesian Product 
SELECT ename, empno 
FROM scott.emp 
WHERE deptno=20 
), x AS ( 
SELECT ROWNUM team_no, t1.ename e1, t2.ename e2, t3.ename e3 
FROM t t1 JOIN t t2 ON t1.empno>t2.empno 
          JOIN t t3 ON t2.empno>t3.empno 
) 
SELECT team_no, DECODE(y.rn, 1, e1, 2, e2, 3, e3) team_member 
FROM x, (SELECT ROWNUM rn FROM dual CONNECT BY LEVEL<=3) y 
ORDER BY 1,2

Solution #6: Mimicking UNPIVOT with COALESCE and GROUPING SETS

WITH t AS ( --#6: Mimicking UNPIVOT with COALESCE and GROUPING SETS 
SELECT ename, empno 
FROM scott.emp 
WHERE deptno=20 
), x AS ( 
SELECT ROWNUM team_no, t1.ename e1, t2.ename e2, t3.ename e3 
FROM t t1 JOIN t t2 ON t1.empno>t2.empno 
          JOIN t t3 ON t2.empno>t3.empno 
) 
SELECT team_no, COALESCE(e1, e2, e3) team_member 
FROM x 
GROUP BY team_no, GROUPING SETS(e1,e2,e3) 
ORDER BY 1,2

Solution #7: Mimicking UNPIVOT with Recursive CTE

WITH t AS ( --#7: Mimicking UNPIVOT with Recursive CTE
SELECT ename, empno 
FROM scott.emp 
WHERE deptno=20 
), x AS ( 
SELECT ROWNUM team_no, t1.ename e1, t2.ename e2, t3.ename e3 
FROM t t1 JOIN t t2 ON t1.empno>t2.empno 
 JOIN t t3 ON t2.empno>t3.empno 
), y(team_no, team_member, e2, e3, lvl) AS (
SELECT team_no, e1, e2, e3, 1
FROM x
UNION ALL
SELECT team_no, DECODE(lvl+1, 2, e2, e3), e2, e3, lvl+1
FROM y
WHERE lvl+1<=3
)
SELECT team_no, team_member
FROM y
ORDER BY 1,2

You can execute the above SQL statements in Oracle Live SQL environment.
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Term Replication Sequence SQL Puzzle

SQL Puzzle:

Generate a term replication sequence: 1, 2, 2, 3, 3, 3, 4, 4, 4, 4, etc in a single SELECT statement.

Level: Advanced

Expected Result (for N=4):

RN
1
2
2
3
3
3
4
4
4
4

Solutions:

#1: Using CONNECT BY (for both, the range and the sequence generation)

WITH x AS (
SELECT ROWNUM rn
FROM dual
CONNECT BY LEVEL<=4
)
SELECT rn--, LEVEL
FROM x
CONNECT BY LEVEL<=rn
       AND rn>PRIOR rn
GROUP BY rn, LEVEL
ORDER BY 1;

#2: Using Recursive CTE

WITH x(rn, lvl) AS (
SELECT ROWNUM rn, 1
FROM dual
CONNECT BY LEVEL<=4
UNION ALL
SELECT rn, lvl+1
FROM x
WHERE rn>=lvl+1
)
SELECT rn
FROM x
ORDER BY 1;

#3: Using Self-Join

WITH x AS (
SELECT ROWNUM rn
FROM dual
CONNECT BY LEVEL<=4
)
SELECT a.rn
FROM x a JOIN x b ON a.rn>=b.rn
ORDER BY 1;

Naoto Katayama submitted one more elegant solution using MODEL clause:

#4: Using MODEL clause

SELECT RN
FROM (SELECT LEVEL rn
      FROM DUAL 
      CONNECT BY LEVEL<=4)
MODEL
PARTITION BY(ROWNUM AS par)
DIMENSION BY(0 AS dummy)
MEASURES(rn)
RULES ITERATE(100) UNTIL ITERATION_NUMBER+1>=rn[0]
(rn[ITERATION_NUMBER]=rn[0])
ORDER BY 1;

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3 Solutions to 2018 Oracle SQL Puzzle of the Week #3

2018 Puzzle of the Week #3:

Exact Coin Change Puzzle.

Suppose that you are a sales person at a cash register and you have one purchase to serve before you close. A buyer has to pay X dollars and N cents with bills only (no coins). You have lots of bills of various nomination and limited number of coins: 3 quarters, 9 dimes, 19 nickels, and 4 pennies left in the register. You are required to give the exact change (between 1 and 99 cents) using smallest number of (available) coins.

• Use a single SELECT statement
• The result should return 1 row and 4 columns indicating how many coins of each type to use
• 1 Quarter = 25 cents; 1 Dime = 10 cents; 1 Nickel = 5 cents

Sample result for a change of 63 cents:

 
  Quarters      Dimes    Nickels    Pennies
---------- ---------- ---------- ----------
         2          1          0          3

Solutions:

Solution #1: Using Math formula and MODEL clause:

For American coins one can rely on a mathematical formula to get the smallest number of coins for exact change:

Quarters: FLOOR of [Change Amount]/25
Dimes: FLOOR(([Change Amount] – 25*[Quarters])/10)
Nickels: FLOOR(([Change Amount] – 25*[Quarters]-10*[Dimes])/5)
Pennies: [Change Amount] – 25*[Quarters]-10*[Dimes] – 5*[Nickels]

One of the easiest ways to implement this strategy is to employ the MODEL clause:

WITH m AS (
SELECT 63 AS cents
FROM dual 
)
SELECT cents "Change", 
       Q "Quarters", 
       D "Dimes", 
       N "Nickels", 
       P "Pennies"
FROM m
MODEL
DIMENSION BY(0 AS dummy)
MEASURES(
 cents,
 CAST(0 AS NUMBER(3)) AS Q,
 CAST(0 AS NUMBER(3)) AS D,
 CAST(0 AS NUMBER(3)) AS N,
 CAST(0 AS NUMBER(3)) AS P
)
RULES (
 Q[0]=FLOOR(CENTS[0]/25),
 D[0]=FLOOR((CENTS[0]-Q[0]*25)/10),
 N[0]=FLOOR((CENTS[0]-Q[0]*25-D[0]*10)/5),
 P[0]=(CENTS[0]-Q[0]*25-D[0]*10-N[0]*5)
)

Result:

Change	Quarters	Dimes	Nickels	Pennies
63	2	1	0	3

If we want to extend this solution to see the change combinations for all values from 1 to 99, we will need to change the above solution as follows:

WITH m AS (
SELECT LEVEL cents
FROM dual 
CONNECT BY LEVEL<=99
)
SELECT cents "Change", 
       Q "Quarters", 
       D "Dimes", 
       N "Nickels", 
       P "Pennies"
FROM m
MODEL
PARTITION BY(ROWNUM AS rn)
DIMENSION BY(0 AS dummy)
MEASURES(
 cents,
 CAST(0 AS NUMBER(3)) AS Q,
 CAST(0 AS NUMBER(3)) AS D,
 CAST(0 AS NUMBER(3)) AS N,
 CAST(0 AS NUMBER(3)) AS P
)
RULES (
 Q[0]=FLOOR(CENTS[0]/25),
 D[0]=FLOOR((CENTS[0]-Q[0]*25)/10),
 N[0]=FLOOR((CENTS[0]-Q[0]*25-D[0]*10)/5),
 P[0]=(CENTS[0]-Q[0]*25-D[0]*10-N[0]*5)
)
ORDER BY 1

Result:

Change	Quarters	Dimes	Nickels	Pennies
1	0	0	0	1
2	0	0	0	2
3	0	0	0	3
4	0	0	0	4
5	0	0	1	0
6	0	0	1	1
7	0	0	1	2
8	0	0	1	3
9	0	0	1	4
10	0	1	0	0
…	…	…	…	…
95	3	2	0	0
96	3	2	0	1
97	3	2	0	2
98	3	2	0	3
99	3	2	0	4

Solution #2: Using Enhanced Math formula:

It’s easy to see that the MOD function is very handy in determining the number of coins other than quarters (the largest):

WITH a AS (
SELECT 63 cents
FROM dual
)
SELECT a.cents "Change",
       FLOOR(a.cents/25) "Quarters", 
       FLOOR(MOD(a.cents,25)/10) "Dimes",
       FLOOR(MOD(MOD(a.cents,25),10)/5) "Nickels",
       MOD(MOD(MOD(a.cents,25),10),5) "Pennies"
FROM a

Alternatively, we can see coin combinations for all change amounts from 1 to 99 cents:

WITH a AS (
SELECT LEVEL cents
FROM dual
CONNECT BY LEVEL<100
)
SELECT a.cents "Change",
       FLOOR(a.cents/25) "Quarters", 
       FLOOR(MOD(a.cents,25)/10) "Dimes",
       FLOOR(MOD(MOD(a.cents,25),10)/5) "Nickels",
       MOD(MOD(MOD(a.cents,25),10),5) "Pennies"
FROM a
ORDER BY a.cents

Solution #3: Using Cartesian Product and Top Record pattern approach:

If we did not know the exact math formula, we could still count on the brute force approach – go over all possible coin permutations (Cartesian product) that sum up to the required total amount and then chose the combination with the fewest number of coins (top record pattern):

WITH r AS (
SELECT LEVEL-1 n
FROM dual
CONNECT BY LEVEL<=20
), x AS (
SELECT q.n "Quarters", d.n "Dimes", n.n "Nickels", p.n "Pennies",
 RANK() OVER(ORDER BY q.n + d.n + n.n + p.n) rk
FROM r q, r d, r n, r p
WHERE q.n<=3
 AND d.n<=9
 AND n.n<=19 --not needed
 AND p.n<=4
 AND q.n*25 + d.n*10 + n.n*5 + p.n = 63 --amount of change
)
SELECT "Quarters", "Dimes", "Nickels", "Pennies"
FROM x
WHERE rk=1

If we want to extend this solution to see the change combinations for all values from 1 to 99, we will need to change the above solution as follows:

WITH r AS ( -- this range is to be reused 5 times in this query
SELECT LEVEL-1 n
FROM dual
CONNECT BY LEVEL<=100
), x AS (
SELECT c.n "Change", q.n "Quarters", d.n "Dimes", 
       n.n "Nickels", p.n "Pennies",
       RANK() OVER(PARTITION BY c.n ORDER BY q.n + d.n + n.n + p.n) rk
FROM r q, r d, r n, r p, r c
WHERE q.n<=3
 AND d.n<=9
 AND n.n<=19 --now it is needed
 AND p.n<=4  AND q.n*25 + d.n*10 + n.n*5 + p.n = c.n --amount of change  
 AND c.n>0
)
SELECT "Change", "Quarters", "Dimes", "Nickels", "Pennies"
FROM x
WHERE rk=1
ORDER BY 1

You can execute the above SQL statements in Oracle Live SQL environment.

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5 Solutions to 2018 Oracle SQL Puzzle of the Week #1

2018 Puzzle of the Week #1:

For a given text string, find the first (from the beginning) longest sub-string that does not have repeating characters.

Solutions:

Solution #1: Using CONNECT BY clause (for range generation), REGEXP_COUNT, and RANK() functions:

WITH w AS ( 
SELECT 'arkansas' AS word 
FROM dual 
), r AS ( 
SELECT ROWNUM rn 
FROM w 
CONNECT BY LEVEL<=LENGTH(word) 
), x AS ( 
SELECT SUBSTR(w.word, r1.rn, r2.rn - r1.rn + 1) substr, 
       RANK() OVER(ORDER BY r2.rn - r1.rn DESC, r1.rn) rk 
FROM r r1, r r2, w 
WHERE r1.rn<=r2.rn 
 AND REGEXP_COUNT(SUBSTR(w.word, r1.rn, r2.rn - r1.rn + 1), '(.).*\1') = 0 
) 
SELECT substr 
FROM x 
WHERE rk=1

Result of execution in Oracle Live SQL client:

SUBSTR
rkans

Solution #2: Using CONNECT BY clause (for range generation), REGEXP_LIKE, and MAX() KEEP functions:

WITH w AS ( 
SELECT 'arkansas' AS word 
FROM dual 
), r AS ( 
SELECT ROWNUM rn 
FROM w 
CONNECT BY LEVEL<=LENGTH(word) 
) 
SELECT MAX(SUBSTR(w.word, r1.rn, r2.rn - r1.rn + 1)) 
 KEEP(DENSE_RANK FIRST ORDER BY r2.rn - r1.rn DESC, r1.rn) substr 
FROM r r1, r r2, w 
WHERE r1.rn<=r2.rn 
 AND NOT REGEXP_LIKE(SUBSTR(w.word, r1.rn, r2.rn - r1.rn + 1), '(.).*\1')

Solution #3: Using CONNECT BY clause (twice), LATERAL view, REGEXP_COUNT, and RANK() functions:

WITH w AS ( 
SELECT 'arkansas' AS word 
FROM dual 
), s AS ( 
SELECT SUBSTR(word, LEVEL) word, LEVEL rn 
FROM w 
CONNECT BY LEVEL<=LENGTH(word) 
) 
SELECT MAX(x.substr) 
       KEEP(DENSE_RANK FIRST ORDER BY LENGTH(x.substr) DESC, s.rn) substr 
FROM s, LATERAL(SELECT SUBSTR(s.word, 1, LEVEL) substr 
                FROM dual 
                CONNECT BY LEVEL<=LENGTH(s.word)) x 
WHERE REGEXP_COUNT(x.substr, '(.).*\1') = 0

Solution #4: Using XMLTable function (for range generation), Correlated subquery with COUNT(DISTINCT), and MAX() KEEP function:

WITH w AS ( 
SELECT 'arkansas' AS word 
FROM dual 
), r AS ( 
SELECT ROWNUM rn, word
FROM w, XMLTABLE('for $i in 1 to $N cast as xs:integer return $i' 
                 PASSING LENGTH(w.word) AS N) x
) 
SELECT MAX(SUBSTR(r1.word, r1.rn, r2.rn - r1.rn + 1))
 KEEP(DENSE_RANK FIRST ORDER BY r2.rn - r1.rn DESC, r1.rn) substr 
FROM r r1, r r2
WHERE r1.rn<=r2.rn 
 AND r2.rn - r1.rn + 1 = 
 (SELECT COUNT(DISTINCT SUBSTR(SUBSTR(r1.word, r1.rn, r2.rn - r1.rn + 1), 
                               LEVEL, 1)) 
 FROM dual 
 CONNECT BY LEVEL<=r2.rn - r1.rn + 1 
 )

Solution #5: Using CONNECT BY, Recursive CTE, INSTR, SUBSTR, and MAX() KEEP functions:

WITH w AS (
 SELECT 'arkansas' word
 FROM dual
), s(sub, word, lvl, rn) AS (
SELECT SUBSTR(word, LEVEL, 1), SUBSTR(word, LEVEL) word, 1, ROWNUM
FROM w
CONNECT BY SUBSTR(word, LEVEL) IS NOT NULL
UNION ALL
SELECT SUBSTR(word, 1, lvl+1), word, lvl+1, ROWNUM
FROM s
WHERE LENGTH(SUBSTR(word, 1, lvl+1))=lvl+1
 AND INSTR(sub, SUBSTR(word, lvl+1, 1))=0
)
SELECT MAX(sub) KEEP (DENSE_RANK FIRST ORDER BY lvl DESC, rn) substr
FROM s

You can execute the above SQL statements in Oracle Live SQL environment.

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