MS-SQL sort output in descending order

Question

I have this MS-SQL query with thousands of row records in database:

SELECT DISTINCT TOP 7 DATENAME(MM, mydatetime) + \' \' + CAST(DAY(mydatetime) AS VA         


        

Answer 1

To get the order you specify including only the dates you want in the return results you need to remove the desc and add a date filter to your where clause.

That may also allow you to get rid of the top statement if your do your filter right.

SELECT DISTINCT TOP 7 DATENAME(MM, mydatetime) 
    + ' ' + CAST(DAY(mydatetime) AS VARCHAR(2)) as thedate
    , MONTH(mydatetime)
    , DAY(mydatetime)
    , COUNT(Page) as totalcount
    , count(DISTINCT Page) as visitors
  FROM someTable
  WHERE Page LIKE '%AEC%' 
    AND /* filter date range i.e. MONTH(mydatetime) > 9 AND YEAR(mydatetime) > 2011 */
  GROUP BY DATENAME(MM, mydatetime) + ' ' + CAST(DAY(mydatetime) AS VARCHAR(2))
    , MONTH(mydatetime)
    , DAY(mydatetime)
  ORDER BY MONTH(mydatetime) 
    , DAY(mydatetime)