SQL query for finding the longest name and shortest name in a table

Question

I have a table with one of the columns is of type varchar(city). and want to find the longest and shortest of values stored in that column.

select a.city, a.city         


        

Answer 1

For oracle SQL in one resulting table. This will retrieve the min and max city names, and if same length will get the first city sorted in alphabetic order.

SELECT * FROM (
    SELECT CITY, LENGTH(CITY) CITY_LENGTH 
    FROM STATION 
    ORDER BY CITY_LENGTH ASC, CITY ASC ) MAX_LEN  
WHERE ROWNUM <= 1
UNION
SELECT * FROM (
    SELECT CITY, LENGTH(CITY) CITY_LENGTH 
    FROM STATION 
    ORDER BY  CITY_LENGTH DESC, CITY ASC ) MIN_LENGTH  
WHERE ROWNUM <= 1;