How to sort varchar string properly with numeric values on both ends?

Question

I'm building a Common Table Expression (CTE) in SQL Server 2008 to use in a PIVOT query.

I'm having difficulty sorting the output properly because there are numeric values that sandwich the string data in the middle. Is it possible to do this?

This is a quick and dirty example, the real query will span several years worth of values.

Example:

Declare @startdate as varchar(max);
Declare @enddate as varchar(max);
Set @startdate = cast((DATEPART(yyyy, GetDate())-1) as varchar(4))+'-12-01';
Set @enddate = cast((DATEPART(yyyy, GetDate())) as varchar(4))+'-03-15';

WITH DateRange(dt) AS
    (
        SELECT CONVERT(datetime, @startdate) dt
        UNION ALL
        SELECT DATEADD(dd,1,dt) dt FROM DateRange WHERE dt < CONVERT(datetime, @enddate)
    )
    SELECT DISTINCT ',' + QUOTENAME((cast(DATEPART(yyyy, dt) as varchar(4)))+'-Week'+(cast(DATEPART(ww, dt) as varchar(2)))) FROM DateRange

Current Output:

,[2012-Week48]
,[2012-Week49]
,[2012-Week50]
,[2012-Week51]
,[2012-Week52]
,[2012-Week53]
,[2013-Week1]
,[2013-Week10]
,[2013-Week11]
,[2013-Week2]
,[2013-Week3]
,[2013-Week4]
,[2013-Week5]
,[2013-Week6]
,[2013-Week7]
,[2013-Week8]
,[2013-Week9]

Desired Output:

,[2012-Week48]
,[2012-Week49]
,[2012-Week50]
,[2012-Week51]
,[2012-Week52]
,[2012-Week53]
,[2013-Week1]
,[2013-Week2]
,[2013-Week3]
,[2013-Week4]
,[2013-Week5]
,[2013-Week6]
,[2013-Week7]
,[2013-Week8]
,[2013-Week9]
,[2013-Week10]
,[2013-Week11]

EDIT

Of course after I post the question my brain started working. I changed the DATEADD to add 1 week instead of 1 day and then took out the DISTINCT in the select and it worked.

DECLARE @startdate AS VARCHAR(MAX);
DECLARE @enddate AS VARCHAR(MAX);
SET @startdate = CAST((DATEPART(yyyy, GetDate())-1) AS VARCHAR(4))+'-12-01';
SET @enddate = CAST((DATEPART(yyyy, GetDate())) AS VARCHAR(4))+'-03-15';

WITH DateRange(dt) AS
    (
            SELECT CONVERT(datetime, @startdate) dt
            UNION ALL
            SELECT DATEADD(ww,1,dt) dt FROM DateRange WHERE dt < CONVERT(datetime, @enddate)
    )
    SELECT ',' + QUOTENAME((CAST(DATEPART(yyyy, dt) AS VARCHAR(4)))+'-Week'+(CAST(DATEPART(ww, dt) AS VARCHAR(2)))) FROM DateRange

Answer 1

I needed to change the DATEADD portion of the query and remove the DISTINCT. Once changed the order sorted properly on it's own

DECLARE @startdate AS VARCHAR(MAX);
DECLARE @enddate AS VARCHAR(MAX);
SET @startdate = CAST((DATEPART(yyyy, GetDate())-1) AS VARCHAR(4))+'-12-01';
SET @enddate = CAST((DATEPART(yyyy, GetDate())) AS VARCHAR(4))+'-03-15';

WITH DateRange(dt) AS
    (
            SELECT CONVERT(datetime, @startdate) dt
            UNION ALL
            SELECT DATEADD(ww,1,dt) dt FROM DateRange WHERE dt < CONVERT(datetime, @enddate)
    )
    SELECT ',' + QUOTENAME((CAST(DATEPART(yyyy, dt) AS VARCHAR(4)))+'-Week'+(CAST(DATEPART(ww, dt) AS VARCHAR(2)))) FROM DateRange

Answer 2

I can't see the sample SQL code (that site is blacklisted where I am).

Here is a trick for sorting that data in the proper order is to use the length first and then the values:

select col
from t
order by left(col, 6), len(col), col;

Answer 3

Have you considered to sort on two temporary columns (year in smallint and week in tinyint to save space … or directly using the datepart integer if space is not a problem to you and you prefer fast run) along with the use of "order by year, week" ?

If you store dates using a more suitable type (what I suggest), it would then become :

WITH [Define the CTE expression name and column list]
AS
  (
    SELECT CAST(DATEPART(yyyy, dt) as smallint(4)) year, cast(DATEPART(ww, dt) as tinyint(2)) week, [your columns here]
    FROM DateRange WHERE dt < @enddate
  )
[Define the outer query referencing the CTE name]
ORDER BY year, week;
GO

Also, please note that string operations will slow your queries so avoid them when possible !

Answer 4

I like Gordon's answer, but if you were hell-bent on text manipulation in your order by:

ORDER BY     CAST(REPLACE(LEFT('[2012-Week48]',5),'[','')AS INT)
            ,CAST(REPLACE(RIGHT('[2012-Week48]',CHARINDEX('Week','[2012-Week48]')-4),']','') AS INT)

Answer 5

Here is another option converting the beginning and ending parts of the column to integer.

SELECT *
FROM YourTable
ORDER BY CAST(SUBSTRING(yourcolumn,1,4) as int), 
  CAST(SUBSTRING(yourcolumn,CHARINDEX('Week',yourcolumn)+4,len(yourcolumn)) as int)

• SQL Fiddle Demo

This will work assuming the format of the data is always the same.

Answer 6

Since you are using dt to generate the string, you should sort by using the date's parts:

WITH DateRange(dt) ...
SELECT DISTINCT ',' + QUOTENAM...
ORDER BY DATEPART(yyyy, dt), DATEPART(ww, dt)