Is there a more elegant way to write this query?...

Hi-

I'm suffering from a performance problem, but when I look at my query, I'm
not convinced that there isn't a better way to handle this in SQL. -So I'm
seeking advice here before I go to the performance list.

I have three tables- case, actor and actor_case_assignment.

As the names imply, actor_case_assignment contains records that assign an
actor to a case. Actors such as attorneys or judges may have many cases,
while the average actor (we hope) only has one.

What I'm trying to do is link these tables to get back a single row per
actor that shows the actor's name, the number of cases that actor is
assigned to, and if they only have one case, I want the number for that
case. This means I have to do some grouping to get the case count, but I'm
then forced to use an aggregate function like max on the other fields. I
hope there's a better way. Any suggestions?

Here's what I'm using right now:

select
actor.actor_id,
max(actor.actor_full_name),
max(case_data.case_public_id),
max(case_data.case_id),
count(case_data.case_id) as case_count
from
actor,
actor_case_assignment,
case_data
where
actor.actor_full_name_uppercase like upper('martin%')
and actor.actor_id = actor_case_assignment.actor_id
and case_data.case_id = actor_case_assignment.case_id
group by
actor.actor_id
order by
max(actor.actor_full_name),
case_count desc,
limit
1000;

Thanks!
-Nick

---------------------------------------------------------------------
Nick Fankhauser

nickf(at)doxpop(dot)com Phone 1.765.965.7363 Fax 1.765.962.9788
doxpop - Court records at your fingertips - http://www.doxpop.com/