Your sortpath isn't technically being "changed" by the ORDER BY. The correct values are all there, just not coming up in the order you anticipated. In SQL, if you don't explicitly sort a set of data, the order in which it comes back to you is undefined... and the fact that it originally appeared to be in the anticipated order was more along the lines of coincidental.
I tweaked your fiddle (the "sorted" query):
GROUP_CONCAT(s.SortOrder ORDER BY a.PathLength DESC separator '') AS SortPath
Now, it looks like the results are being explicitly sorted in the order you expect, which is the order in which they were implicitly sorted before.
So why did that order change? If you do an EXPLAIN SELECT on the "sorted" query with and without the ORDER BY clause, you'll notice that the ordering of the tables changes in the output of EXPLAIN depending on whether you specify ORDER BY on the entire query. This is because the query optimizer re-orders the join-order of the tables to what it thinks is the most cost-effective sequence.
With the ORDER BY, the tables are joined from left to right, n-d-a-s. Without the ORDER BY, the tables are joined from left to right, d-n-a-s. Both are logically valid, but this causes the rows to be read from the tables in a different order, and your unsorted GROUP CONCAT's output order changes as a result of the change to the query plan.
Although MySQL has no CTE functionality, there are two major ways to create CTE expressions:
TECHNIQUE #1 : Write Stored Procedures to Traverse Recursively
Rather than Reinventing the Wheel, please see my past posts on how to make stored procedures
TECHNIQUE #2 : Iterate Based on the Tree's Maximum Depth
First, here is some sample data
DROP DATABASE IF EXISTS dufran;
CREATE DATABASE dufran;
USE dufran;
CREATE TABLE reference
(
user INT NOT NULL AUTO_INCREMENT,
referee INT NOT NULL DEFAULT 0,
name VARCHAR(20) NOT NULL,
PRIMARY KEY (user)
);
INSERT INTO reference (name,referee) VALUES ('Rolando',0);
INSERT INTO reference (name,referee) VALUES ('Pamela',1);
INSERT INTO reference (name,referee) VALUES ('Carlik',2);
INSERT INTO reference (name,referee) VALUES ('Javonne',2);
INSERT INTO reference (name,referee) VALUES ('Dominique',2);
INSERT INTO reference (name,referee) VALUES ('Diamond',2);
INSERT INTO reference (name,referee) VALUES ('Azalia',3);
When loaded, this is the data
mysql> SELECT * FROM reference;
+------+---------+-----------+
| user | referee | name |
+------+---------+-----------+
| 1 | 0 | Rolando |
| 2 | 1 | Pamela |
| 3 | 2 | Carlik |
| 4 | 2 | Javonne |
| 5 | 2 | Dominique |
| 6 | 2 | Diamond |
| 7 | 3 | Azalia |
+------+---------+-----------+
7 rows in set (0.00 sec)
mysql>
Here is how you compute the maximum depth
SET @depth = 0;
SELECT MAX(@depth:=@depth+1) max_depth FROM
(SELECT DISTINCT referee FROM reference) A;
Here is the maximum depth for the sample data
mysql> SET @depth = 0;
Query OK, 0 rows affected (0.00 sec)
mysql> SELECT MAX(@depth:=@depth+1) max_depth FROM
-> (SELECT DISTINCT referee FROM reference) A;
+-----------+
| max_depth |
+-----------+
| 4 |
+-----------+
1 row in set (0.00 sec)
mysql>
Using this principle, iterate for the SELECT
columns and the LEFT JOIN
clauses
SET @depth = 0;
SELECT GROUP_CONCAT(CONCAT('t',dep,'.user AS lvl',dep))
INTO @sqllist FROM
(SELECT @depth:=@depth+1 dep FROM
(SELECT DISTINCT referee FROM reference) AA) A;
SET @depth1 = 0;
SET @depth2 = 1;
SELECT GROUP_CONCAT(sqljoin SEPARATOR ' ') INTO @sqljoins
FROM (SELECT CONCAT('LEFT JOIN reference t',@depth2:=@depth2+1,
' ON t',@depth2,'.referee = t',@depth1:=@depth1+1,'.user') sqljoin
FROM (SELECT DISTINCT referee FROM reference) AA) A;
SELECT @sqljoins;
SET @sqlstmt = CONCAT('SELECT ',@sqllist,
' FROM reference t1 ',@sqljoins);
SELECT @sqllist\G
SELECT @sqljoins\G
SELECT @sqlstmt\G
Here is the SQL generated
mysql> SET @depth = 0;
Query OK, 0 rows affected (0.00 sec)
mysql> SELECT GROUP_CONCAT(CONCAT('t',dep,'.user AS lvl',dep))
-> INTO @sqllist FROM
-> (SELECT @depth:=@depth+1 dep FROM
-> (SELECT DISTINCT referee FROM reference) AA) A;
Query OK, 1 row affected (0.00 sec)
mysql> SET @depth1 = 0;
Query OK, 0 rows affected (0.00 sec)
mysql> SET @depth2 = 1;
Query OK, 0 rows affected (0.00 sec)
mysql> SELECT GROUP_CONCAT(sqljoin SEPARATOR ' ') INTO @sqljoins
-> FROM (SELECT CONCAT('LEFT JOIN reference t',@depth2:=@depth2+1,
-> ' ON t',@depth2,'.referee = t',@depth1:=@depth1+1,'.user') sqljoin
-> FROM (SELECT DISTINCT referee FROM reference) AA) A;
Query OK, 1 row affected (0.00 sec)
mysql> SELECT @sqllist\G
*************************** 1. row ***************************
@sqllist: t1.user AS lvl1,t2.user AS lvl2,t3.user AS lvl3,t4.user AS lvl4
1 row in set (0.00 sec)
mysql> SELECT @sqljoins\G
*************************** 1. row ***************************
@sqljoins: LEFT JOIN reference t2 ON t2.referee = t1.user LEFT JOIN reference t3 ON t3.referee = t2.user LEFT JOIN reference t4 ON t4.referee = t3.user LEFT JOIN reference t5 ON t5.referee = t4.user
1 row in set (0.00 sec)
mysql> SELECT @sqlstmt\G
*************************** 1. row ***************************
@sqlstmt: SELECT t1.user AS lvl1,t2.user AS lvl2,t3.user AS lvl3,t4.user AS lvl4 FROM reference t1 LEFT JOIN reference t2 ON t2.referee = t1.user LEFT JOIN reference t3 ON t3.referee = t2.user LEFT JOIN reference t4 ON t4.referee = t3.user LEFT JOIN reference t5 ON t5.referee = t4.user
1 row in set (0.00 sec)
mysql>
Here is the big question, does the SQL work ??? Take the SQL and run it dynamically:
PREPARE s FROM @sqlstmt;
EXECUTE s;
DEALLOCATE PREPARE s;
Here is the result:
mysql> PREPARE s FROM @sqlstmt;
Query OK, 0 rows affected (0.00 sec)
Statement prepared
mysql> EXECUTE s;
+------+------+------+------+
| lvl1 | lvl2 | lvl3 | lvl4 |
+------+------+------+------+
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 7 |
| 1 | 2 | 4 | NULL |
| 1 | 2 | 5 | NULL |
| 1 | 2 | 6 | NULL |
| 2 | 3 | 7 | NULL |
| 2 | 4 | NULL | NULL |
| 2 | 5 | NULL | NULL |
| 2 | 6 | NULL | NULL |
| 3 | 7 | NULL | NULL |
| 4 | NULL | NULL | NULL |
| 5 | NULL | NULL | NULL |
| 6 | NULL | NULL | NULL |
| 7 | NULL | NULL | NULL |
+------+------+------+------+
13 rows in set (0.03 sec)
mysql> DEALLOCATE PREPARE s;
Query OK, 0 rows affected (0.00 sec)
mysql>
I scripted this to give you a starting point and some homework. Here is what I mean: You probably don't want to see NULL columns. You could do one of two things:
- Convert each
NULL
to IFNULL(lvl1,'')
, GROUP_CONCAT all columns.
- Compute the depth of a particular id and gather columns for it only.
Give it a Try !!!
UPDATE 2016-06-14 16:36 EDT
Someone just commented
Your max depth calculation is wrong. Proof: Add to your sample data: INSERT INTO reference (name,referee) VALUES ('Maria',4);
Let's try it out
mysql> INSERT INTO reference (name,referee) VALUES ('Maria',4);
Query OK, 1 row affected (0.00 sec)
mysql> SET @depth = 0;
Query OK, 0 rows affected (0.00 sec)
mysql> SELECT MAX(@depth:=@depth+1) max_depth FROM
-> (SELECT DISTINCT referee FROM reference) A;
+-----------+
| max_depth |
+-----------+
| 5 |
+-----------+
1 row in set (0.00 sec)
OK, it says the depth is 5. Is there visible proof of this ?
mysql> SET @depth = 0;
Query OK, 0 rows affected (0.00 sec)
mysql> SELECT GROUP_CONCAT(CONCAT('t',dep,'.user AS lvl',dep))
-> INTO @sqllist FROM
-> (SELECT @depth:=@depth+1 dep FROM
-> (SELECT DISTINCT referee FROM reference) AA) A;
Query OK, 1 row affected (0.00 sec)
mysql> SET @depth1 = 0;
Query OK, 0 rows affected (0.00 sec)
mysql> SET @depth2 = 1;
Query OK, 0 rows affected (0.00 sec)
mysql> SELECT GROUP_CONCAT(sqljoin SEPARATOR ' ') INTO @sqljoins
-> FROM (SELECT CONCAT('LEFT JOIN reference t',@depth2:=@depth2+1,
-> ' ON t',@depth2,'.referee = t',@depth1:=@depth1+1,'.user') sqljoin
-> FROM (SELECT DISTINCT referee FROM reference) AA) A;
Query OK, 1 row affected (0.00 sec)
mysql> SELECT @sqljoins;
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| @sqljoins |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| LEFT JOIN reference t2 ON t2.referee = t1.user LEFT JOIN reference t3 ON t3.referee = t2.user LEFT JOIN reference t4 ON t4.referee = t3.user LEFT JOIN reference t5 ON t5.referee = t4.user LEFT JOIN reference t6 ON t6.referee = t5.user |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
1 row in set (0.00 sec)
mysql> SET @sqlstmt = CONCAT('SELECT ',@sqllist,
-> ' FROM reference t1 ',@sqljoins);
Query OK, 0 rows affected (0.00 sec)
mysql> SELECT @sqllist\G
*************************** 1. row ***************************
@sqllist: t1.user AS lvl1,t2.user AS lvl2,t3.user AS lvl3,t4.user AS lvl4,t5.user AS lvl5
1 row in set (0.00 sec)
mysql> SELECT @sqljoins\G
*************************** 1. row ***************************
@sqljoins: LEFT JOIN reference t2 ON t2.referee = t1.user LEFT JOIN reference t3 ON t3.referee = t2.user LEFT JOIN reference t4 ON t4.referee = t3.user LEFT JOIN reference t5 ON t5.referee = t4.user LEFT JOIN reference t6 ON t6.referee = t5.user
1 row in set (0.00 sec)
mysql> SELECT @sqlstmt\G
*************************** 1. row ***************************
@sqlstmt: SELECT t1.user AS lvl1,t2.user AS lvl2,t3.user AS lvl3,t4.user AS lvl4,t5.user AS lvl5 FROM reference t1 LEFT JOIN reference t2 ON t2.referee = t1.user LEFT JOIN reference t3 ON t3.referee = t2.user LEFT JOIN reference t4 ON t4.referee = t3.user LEFT JOIN reference t5 ON t5.referee = t4.user LEFT JOIN reference t6 ON t6.referee = t5.user
1 row in set (0.00 sec)
mysql> PREPARE s FROM @sqlstmt;
Query OK, 0 rows affected (0.00 sec)
Statement prepared
Guess what the output says ?
mysql> EXECUTE s;
+------+------+------+------+------+
| lvl1 | lvl2 | lvl3 | lvl4 | lvl5 |
+------+------+------+------+------+
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 7 | NULL |
| 1 | 2 | 4 | 8 | NULL |
| 1 | 2 | 5 | NULL | NULL |
| 1 | 2 | 6 | NULL | NULL |
| 2 | 3 | 7 | NULL | NULL |
| 2 | 4 | 8 | NULL | NULL |
| 2 | 5 | NULL | NULL | NULL |
| 2 | 6 | NULL | NULL | NULL |
| 3 | 7 | NULL | NULL | NULL |
| 4 | 8 | NULL | NULL | NULL |
| 5 | NULL | NULL | NULL | NULL |
| 6 | NULL | NULL | NULL | NULL |
| 7 | NULL | NULL | NULL | NULL |
| 8 | NULL | NULL | NULL | NULL |
+------+------+------+------+------+
14 rows in set (0.00 sec)
mysql> DEALLOCATE PREPARE s;
Query OK, 0 rows affected (0.00 sec)
mysql>
Just as my code predicted. The depth is 5 and the Dynamic SQL just proved it.
Best Answer
The problem is you need to extract the sort order for the root items and make that same order apply to the sub-items in the tree without re-ordering the sub-items. In Oracle you can do this with a windowing function as follows:
I don't know if you can do something like that in MYSQL, so here is a version using a GROUP BY and self join that works in MySQL 5.5.28.
(SQL Fiddle)