Let's learn First_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 First_Value Function.

Purpose:

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

Syntax:

First_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 First_Value function returns the first value from the order set of values. If the first 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 First_Value demo for getting the first and the last match played

Suppose we need to find out the first and the last match played. We can achieve it as under

Select 	  
	 MatchBetween  
	 ,ScheduleDate
	 ,First_Value(MatchBetween) Over(Order By ScheduleDate  Desc) As [Last Match]
	 ,First_Value(MatchBetween) Over(Order By ScheduleDate ) As [First Match]
From MatchTable
 
/*Result
 
MatchBetween		ScheduleDate	Last Match		First Match
India VS Australia	2011-08-14	Ireland VS Bangaladesh	India VS Australia
India VS Pakistan	2011-08-15	Ireland VS Bangaladesh	India VS Australia
India VS Newzealand	2011-08-16	Ireland VS Bangaladesh	India VS Australia
Australia VS Pakistan	2011-08-17	Ireland VS Bangaladesh	India VS Australia
Australia VS Newzealand	2011-08-18	Ireland VS Bangaladesh	India VS Australia
Newzealand VS Pakistan	2011-08-19	Ireland VS Bangaladesh	India VS Australia
USA VS WestIndies	2011-08-20	Ireland VS Bangaladesh	India VS Australia
USA VS Ireland		2011-08-21	Ireland VS Bangaladesh	India VS Australia
USA VS Bangaladesh	2011-08-22	Ireland VS Bangaladesh	India VS Australia
WestIndies VS Ireland	2011-08-23	Ireland VS Bangaladesh	India VS Australia
WestIndies VS Bangaladesh2011-08-24	Ireland VS Bangaladesh	India VS Australia
Ireland VS Bangaladesh	2011-08-25	Ireland VS Bangaladesh	India VS Australia
 
*/ 

Well, by looking into the result set for this anyone can argue that, it can be achieved by

a)Row_Number approach as

;With Cte AS(
Select 
		RowID = ROW_NUMBER() Over(Order by (select 1))
		,MatchBetween  
		,ScheduleDate
From MatchTable )

Select 
		MatchBetween  
		,ScheduleDate
		, [Last Match] = (Select MatchBetween  from Cte where RowID = 12)
		, [First Match] = (Select MatchBetween  from Cte where RowID = 1)
from Cte

N.B.~ I have deliberately used Row_Number() function instead of the [MatchID] column just to get the work done using Row_Number() way.

b)Max/Min approach as

Select 
	MatchBetween  
	,ScheduleDate
	, [Last Match] = (Select MatchBetween  from MatchTable where ScheduleDate = (Select MAX(ScheduleDate) from MatchTable))
	, [First Match] = (Select MatchBetween from MatchTable where ScheduleDate = (Select MIN(ScheduleDate) from MatchTable))
from MatchTable

And this argument will be valid. But wait, is it the only purpose of First_Value() function? Let’s see some more example.

Example 2: Simple First_Value demo with Partition By clause

Select 	 
	   MatchBetween  
	   ,ScheduleDate	
	   ,MatchGroup   
	   ,First_Value(MatchBetween) Over(Partition By MatchGroup Order By ScheduleDate Desc) As LastMatch
	   ,First_Value(MatchBetween) Over(Partition By MatchGroup Order By ScheduleDate) As FirstMatch	   
From MatchTable
 
/* Result
 
MatchBetween		ScheduleDate	MatchGroup	LastMatch		FirstMatch
India VS Australia	2011-08-14	Group-A		Newzealand VS Pakistan	India VS Australia
India VS Pakistan	2011-08-15	Group-A		Newzealand VS Pakistan	India VS Australia
India VS Newzealand	2011-08-16	Group-A		Newzealand VS Pakistan	India VS Australia
Australia VS Pakistan	2011-08-17	Group-A		Newzealand VS Pakistan	India VS Australia
Australia VS Newzealand	2011-08-18	Group-A		Newzealand VS Pakistan	India VS Australia
Newzealand VS Pakistan	2011-08-19	Group-A		Newzealand VS Pakistan	India VS Australia
USA VS WestIndies	2011-08-20	Group-B		Ireland VS Bangaladesh	USA VS WestIndies
USA VS Ireland		2011-08-21	Group-B		Ireland VS Bangaladesh	USA VS WestIndies
USA VS Bangaladesh	2011-08-22	Group-B		Ireland VS Bangaladesh	USA VS WestIndies
WestIndies VS Ireland	2011-08-23	Group-B		Ireland VS Bangaladesh	USA VS WestIndies
WestIndies VS Bangaladesh2011-08-24	Group-B		Ireland VS Bangaladesh	USA VS WestIndies
Ireland VS Bangaladesh	2011-08-25	Group-B		Ireland VS Bangaladesh	USA VS WestIndies
 
*/ 

As can be make out that, in this case the function is working based on the partitions made.

Example 3: First_Value with new windowing clause

Select 	 
	   MatchBetween  
	   ,ScheduleDate	   
	   ,First_Value(MatchBetween) Over(Order By ScheduleDate Range Unbounded Preceding) As Rng_UPrec
	   ,First_Value(MatchBetween) Over(Order By ScheduleDate Rows Unbounded Preceding) As Row_UPrec
	   ,First_Value(MatchBetween) Over(Order By ScheduleDate Range Current Row) As Rng_Curr
	   ,First_Value(MatchBetween) Over(Order By ScheduleDate Rows Current Row) As Row_Curr
	   ,First_Value(MatchBetween) Over(Order By ScheduleDate Range Between Unbounded Preceding And Current Row) As Rng_UPrec_Curr
	   ,First_Value(MatchBetween) Over(Order By ScheduleDate Rows Between Unbounded Preceding And Current Row) As Row_UPrec_Curr
	   ,First_Value(MatchBetween) Over(Order By ScheduleDate Range Between Unbounded Preceding And Unbounded Following) As Rng_UPrec_UFoll
	   ,First_Value(MatchBetween) Over(Order By ScheduleDate Rows Between Unbounded Preceding And Unbounded Following) As Row_UPrec_UFoll
	   ,First_Value(MatchBetween) Over(Order By ScheduleDate Range Between Current Row And Unbounded Following) As Rng_Curr_UFoll
	   ,First_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 First_Value function and it's various usage.Hope the article will be useful.

Thanks for reading