SQL Server Custom Sort

SQL Server Custom Sort

In SQL Server, you can achieve custom sorting using the ORDER BY clause along with a CASE statement to define your custom sorting logic. Here's an example of how you can use custom sorting:

Let's say you have a table named products with a column category that you want to sort in a custom order: 'Electronics', 'Clothing', 'Books', 'Home & Garden', 'Sports'.

---------------------------------------------------------------------

SELECT *

FROM products ORDER BY CASE WHEN category = 'Electronics' THEN 1 WHEN category = 'Clothing' THEN 2 WHEN category = 'Books' THEN 3 WHEN category = 'Home & Garden' THEN 4 WHEN category = 'Sports' THEN 5 ELSE 6 -- Put any other category at the end END;

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

In this query, the CASE statement assigns a numeric value to each category based on the custom sorting order. The ORDER BY clause then sorts the result set based on these numeric values.

You can customize this CASE statement according to your specific sorting requirements. This method allows you to define any custom sorting logic you need in SQL Server.