JOIN with GROUP BY in a Normalized DB about Resources, Topics & Chapters

Question

I\'ve normalized my DB but can\'t seem to return the data I\'m looking for in the right way.

I\'ve got 5 tables:

1. Resources (5 resources)
2. Topics (1

Answer 1

I can't really distinguish what you're trying to achieve, but it sounds like you're simply looking to obtain a table that shows every chapter with its topic and resource.

If so, then the following SQL:

select * from resources r
JOIN topics_to_resource ttr ON ttr.tr_resid = r.res_id
JOIN topics t on t.t_id = ttr.tr_tid
JOIN topics_to_chapter ttc on ttc.tch_tid = t.t_id
JOIN chapters ch ON ch.ch_id = tch_chid
ORDER BY r.res_id;

will return just that, as per http://sqlfiddle.com/#!9/ddf252/12

Or, ignoring the join IDs in the select:

select r.res_id, r.res_name, t.t_id, t.t_name, ch.ch_id, ch.ch_name from resources r
JOIN topics_to_resource ttr ON ttr.tr_resid = r.res_id
JOIN topics t on t.t_id = ttr.tr_tid
JOIN topics_to_chapter ttc on ttc.tch_tid = t.t_id
JOIN chapters ch ON ch.ch_id = tch_chid
ORDER BY r.res_id, t.t_id, ch.ch_id

as per http://sqlfiddle.com/#!9/ddf252/14

If that's not what you're looking for, could you elaborate a little on what results you're looking to see?

Edit: To return a more concise list with all associated records

select 
CONCAT(r.res_id,': ',r.res_name) 'Resources', 
GROUP_CONCAT(CONCAT(' (',t.t_id,': ',t.t_name,')')) 'Topics', 
GROUP_CONCAT(CONCAT(' (',ch.ch_id,': ',ch.ch_name,')')) 'Chapters'
from resources r
JOIN topics_to_resource ttr ON ttr.tr_resid = r.res_id
JOIN topics t on t.t_id = ttr.tr_tid
JOIN topics_to_chapter ttc on ttc.tch_tid = t.t_id
JOIN chapters ch ON ch.ch_id = tch_chid
GROUP BY r.res_id
ORDER BY r.res_id, t.t_id, ch.ch_id

As per http://sqlfiddle.com/#!9/ddf252/30

Finally, to group these by chapter and topic:

select 
CONCAT(res_id,': ',res_name) 'Resources', 
GROUP_CONCAT(`chapters` order by chapters separator '\n') as 'Content'
FROM
  (SELECT r.res_id 'res_id',
          r.res_name 'res_name', 
          t.t_id 't_id',
          t.t_name 't_name',
          CONCAT(t.t_name,': (',GROUP_CONCAT(ch.ch_name ORDER BY t.t_name separator ','),')') 'Chapters'
    FROM resources r
      JOIN topics_to_resource ttr ON ttr.tr_resid = r.res_id
      JOIN topics t on t.t_id = ttr.tr_tid
      JOIN topics_to_chapter ttc on ttc.tch_tid = t.t_id
      JOIN chapters ch ON ch.ch_id = tch_chid
    GROUP BY res_id, t_id
    ORDER BY r.res_id, t.t_id, ch.ch_id) as t
GROUP BY res_id

As seen here: http://sqlfiddle.com/#!9/ddf252/85

I've checked the results over, and they look fine - but double check, as it's gone a bit like MySQL Inception in my head (it's past 1am here)

Further addition: Distinct values per resource

    select CONCAT(r.res_id,': ',r.res_name) 'Resources', GROUP_CONCAT(distinct t_name separator ',') 'Topics', 
GROUP_CONCAT(distinct ch.ch_name separator ',') 'Chapters'
from resources r
JOIN topics_to_resource ttr ON ttr.tr_resid = r.res_id
JOIN topics t on t.t_id = ttr.tr_tid
JOIN topics_to_chapter ttc on ttc.tch_tid = t.t_id
JOIN chapters ch ON ch.ch_id = tch_chid
GROUP BY r.res_id
ORDER BY r.res_id, t.t_id, ch.ch_id

See http://sqlfiddle.com/#!9/ddf252/88