Let's learn Last_Value Function in Sql Server 2012

Introduction

Sql Server 2012 has brought a lot of new functions for the T-Sql developers. In this article we will look into Last_Value Function.

Purpose:

It returns the last value from the order set of values.

Syntax:

Last_Value(expression) over( [ Partition_By_clause] order by clause [rows_range_clause])

Where,

Expression => A table column or built-in function but not analytical functions.

Rows_range_clause => It helps to further limit the effect of analytical function.

As said, the Last _Value function returns the last value from the order set of values. If the last value is null, then the function returns null.

Let us see this function into action.

Case study

Let us first create the environment

IF EXISTS (SELECT * FROM sys.objects WHERE name = N'MatchTable' AND type = 'U')
    DROP TABLE MatchTable
GO
SET ANSI_NULLS ON
GO
--Create the table
CREATE TABLE [dbo].[MatchTable](
        [MatchID] [int] IDENTITY(1,1) NOT NULL,
        [MatchGroup] [varchar](8) NULL,
        [MatchBetween] [varchar](50) NULL,
        [ScheduleDate] [date] NULL
) ON [PRIMARY]
GO

--Insert records
Insert Into MatchTable Values
('Group-A','India VS Australia','08/14/2011')
,('Group-A','India VS Pakistan','08/15/2011')
,('Group-A','India VS Newzealand','08/16/2011')
,('Group-A','Australia VS Pakistan','08/17/2011')
,('Group-A','Australia VS Newzealand','08/18/2011')
,('Group-A','Newzealand VS Pakistan','08/19/2011')
,('Group-B','USA VS WestIndies','08/20/2011')
,('Group-B','USA VS Ireland','08/21/2011')
,('Group-B','USA VS Bangaladesh','08/22/2011')
,('Group-B','WestIndies VS Ireland','08/23/2011')
,('Group-B','WestIndies VS Bangaladesh','08/24/2011')
,('Group-B','Ireland VS Bangaladesh','08/25/2011')

-- Project the records
Select * From MatchTable

/* Result
MatchID MatchGroup      MatchBetween            ScheduleDate
1       Group-A         India VS Australia      2011-08-14
2       Group-A         India VS Pakistan       2011-08-15
3       Group-A         India VS Newzealand     2011-08-16
4       Group-A         Australia VS Pakistan   2011-08-17
5       Group-A         Australia VS Newzealand 2011-08-18
6       Group-A         Newzealand VS Pakistan  2011-08-19
7       Group-B         USA VS WestIndies       2011-08-20
8       Group-B         USA VS Ireland          2011-08-21
9       Group-B         USA VS Bangaladesh      2011-08-22
10      Group-B         WestIndies VS Ireland   2011-08-23
11      Group-B         WestIndies VS Bangaladesh2011-08-24
12      Group-B         Ireland VS Bangaladesh  2011-08-25
*/

Example 1: Simple Last_Value demo

Suppose we need to find out the last match played in every group. We can achieve it as under

Select 	  
	 MatchBetween  
	 ,MatchGroup
	 ,Last_Value(MatchBetween) Over(Partition By MatchGroup Order By MatchGroup) As [Last Match In Group]
From MatchTable

/* Result

MatchBetween		MatchGroup	Last Match In Group
------------		---------	---------------------
India VS Australia	Group-A		Newzealand VS Pakistan
India VS Pakistan	Group-A		Newzealand VS Pakistan
India VS Newzealand	Group-A		Newzealand VS Pakistan
Australia VS Pakistan	Group-A		Newzealand VS Pakistan
Australia VS Newzealand	Group-A		Newzealand VS Pakistan
Newzealand VS Pakistan	Group-A		Newzealand VS Pakistan
USA VS WestIndies	Group-B		Ireland VS Bangaladesh
USA VS Ireland		Group-B		Ireland VS Bangaladesh
USA VS Bangaladesh	Group-B		Ireland VS Bangaladesh
WestIndies VS Ireland	Group-B		Ireland VS Bangaladesh
WestIndies VS BangaladeshGroup-B	Ireland VS Bangaladesh
Ireland VS Bangaladesh	Group-B		Ireland VS Bangaladesh

*/

Example 2: Last_Value with new windowing clause

Select 	 
	   MatchBetween  
	   ,ScheduleDate	   
	   ,Last_Value(MatchBetween) Over(Order By ScheduleDate Range Unbounded Preceding) As Rng_UPrec
	   ,Last_Value(MatchBetween) Over(Order By ScheduleDate Rows Unbounded Preceding) As Row_UPrec
	   ,Last_Value(MatchBetween) Over(Order By ScheduleDate Range Current Row) As Rng_Curr
	   ,Last_Value(MatchBetween) Over(Order By ScheduleDate Rows Current Row) As Row_Curr
	   ,Last_Value(MatchBetween) Over(Order By ScheduleDate Range Between Unbounded Preceding And Current Row) As Rng_UPrec_Curr
	   ,Last_Value(MatchBetween) Over(Order By ScheduleDate Rows Between Unbounded Preceding And Current Row) As Row_UPrec_Curr
	   ,Last_Value(MatchBetween) Over(Order By ScheduleDate Range Between Unbounded Preceding And Unbounded Following) As Rng_UPrec_UFoll
	   ,Last_Value(MatchBetween) Over(Order By ScheduleDate Rows Between Unbounded Preceding And Unbounded Following) As Row_UPrec_UFoll
	   ,Last_Value(MatchBetween) Over(Order By ScheduleDate Range Between Current Row And Unbounded Following) As Rng_Curr_UFoll
	   ,Last_Value(MatchBetween) Over(Order By ScheduleDate Rows Between Current Row And Unbounded Following) As Row_Curr_UFoll	   
From MatchTable

Conclusion

SQL Server 2012 (Denali) seems to be very mature and promising and has embedded with many new functions.In this article we have looked into the Last_Value function and it's various usage.Hope the article will be useful.

Thanks for reading

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