best way of performing this database stuff

[real_illusions]

Hi,Would like some advice on the best way to achieve this.I have a bunch of data in the database, a number associated with a set name (out of a few choices).Now, for each name, I need to display the top 2 numbers (the 2 highest numbers).I could do a select statement for each name, but then that'll involve several calls to the database, which while it isn't the greatest sin in the world, its not exactly the greatest way of coding.I've been thinking of getting all the data, and making an array, and then for each name, sort the array by the 2 highest number.Does that make any sense?

[thescientist]

you could SELECT * from the database, ORDER BY the column with the numbers, have it be DESC, and then LIMIT 2 to cap the results to only the 2 highest scores.http://www.w3schools.com/sql/sql_orderby.asp

[Skemcin]

Its going to be a little more complicated that what is offered by thescientist - I think.You could try a subquery but I think you'll run into limitation on the WHERE or ORDER BY clauses. In a stored procedure, you could use a combination of queries and temp tables to the results you're looking for.

[real_illusions]

Thanks, have figured out a solution.Its not too elegant as it does call the database a few times via the select statement to different tables, but it does the trick and seems to be the easiest to display whats needed.

[Synook]

You can't LIMIT within a subquery correlated through an IN clause, which makes it a lot more difficult to achieve within a single query.