Hi All

Table :tbl_Books
for all rows, value of book_date column is NULL.

Here are two queries
1.
SELECT top 5 Book_ISBN,isnull(book_date,'1/1/2009') from tbl_Books order by isnull(Book_Date,'') desc

2.
SELECT Book_ISBN,isnull(book_date,'1/1/2009') from tbl_Books order by isnull(Book_Date,'') desc

just difference is the required number-of-rows.

But the order of rows in both the result is different. Aditional to that If i take 'top - 1' in first query, result shows one particular row even if i tries many times.

what could be the reason

Thanks for all

Hans Raj Kasana

I am not sure why you see the difference, I dont observe any such difference in that. In both cases it results in the same order.

_________________________
- Vijay G
Strive for Perfection

Well, you said that all rows have NULL as the value of your column, so the ISNULL expression will also have the same value for all rows. Thus, you are ordering your resultset on a column where all values "tie". Since you give no other column for (sub)ordering, the query processor is free to return the rows in any old order it wants, as long as the rows meet your original query's ordering. Since all columns have the same value, then any ordering of the rows at all meets your ordering criteria.

The specifics of which rows are actually returned is dependent on indexes, the state of the cache at the instant the query runs, and the phases of the moon... thus you cannot depend on any order unless you specifically request it.
What would you have it do? If all rows have the same value then it is certainly true that that one row meets your criteria. If you ask for the TOP 1 from a set of rows where the ordering criteria is the same for all rows, then any row is the correct answer. The one it gave you is perfectly correct.

If you have another row in mind, you need to give it more information...

Jeff Mason
Custom Apps, Inc.
www.custom-apps.com