SQL OrderBy two columns as one

Question

I have a table that has two columns: Height and Width

What is the easiest way to sort this table incrementally based on either Height or Width

In other words, it would pick the smallest value from Height and Width for each row and sort it based on this number?

Thanks in advance!

does add height and width together and then sort works? – Tony Dong Jul 04 '17 at 22:13 — Tony Dong, Jul 04 '17 at 22:13

score 5 · Accepted Answer · answered Jul 04 '17 at 22:13

5

You can use a case statement in your order by clause like this:

select *
from table
order by 
   case when Width > Height then Height else Width end,
   case when Width > Height then Width else Height end

answered Jul 04 '17 at 22:13

Aducci

1

This is much better than the answers in the supposed duplicate. – Gordon Linoff Jul 04 '17 at 22:14

score 1 · Answer 2 · answered Jul 05 '17 at 00:06

1

If you want to only sort on whichever column value is smallest and ignore the other column:

SELECT
    *
FROM
    SomeTable
ORDER BY
    CASE
        WHEN Height < Width THEN Height
        ELSE Width
    END

answered Jul 05 '17 at 00:06

Doug Knudsen

2 Answers2