Sort the rows by descending order with DESC appended to order by clause : Order By « Query Select « Oracle PL/SQL Tutorial

By default, the ORDER BY clause sorts the columns in ascending order.

In ascending order, lower values appear first.

You can use the DESC keyword to sort the columns in descending order.

In descending order, higher values appear first.

You can also use the ASC keyword to explicitly specify an ascending sort.

SQL> -- create demo table
SQL> create table Employee(
  2    ID                 VARCHAR2(4 BYTE)         NOT NULL,
  3    First_Name         VARCHAR2(10 BYTE),
  4    Last_Name          VARCHAR2(10 BYTE),
  5    Start_Date         DATE,
  6    End_Date           DATE,
  7    Salary             Number(8,2),
  8    City               VARCHAR2(10 BYTE),
  9    Description        VARCHAR2(15 BYTE)
 10  )
 11  /

Table created.

SQL>
SQL> -- prepare data
SQL> insert into Employee(ID,  First_Name, Last_Name, Start_Date,                     End_Date,                       Salary,  City,       Description)
  2               values ('01','Jason',    'Martin',  to_date('19960725','YYYYMMDD'), to_date('20060725','YYYYMMDD'), 1234.56, 'Toronto',  'Programmer')
  3  /

1 row created.

SQL> insert into Employee(ID,  First_Name, Last_Name, Start_Date,                     End_Date,                       Salary,  City,       Description)
  2                values('02','Alison',   'Mathews', to_date('19760321','YYYYMMDD'), to_date('19860221','YYYYMMDD'), 6661.78, 'Vancouver','Tester')
  3  /

1 row created.

SQL> insert into Employee(ID,  First_Name, Last_Name, Start_Date,                     End_Date,                       Salary,  City,       Description)
  2                values('03','James',    'Smith',   to_date('19781212','YYYYMMDD'), to_date('19900315','YYYYMMDD'), 6544.78, 'Vancouver','Tester')
  3  /

1 row created.

SQL> insert into Employee(ID,  First_Name, Last_Name, Start_Date,                     End_Date,                       Salary,  City,       Description)
  2                values('04','Celia',    'Rice',    to_date('19821024','YYYYMMDD'), to_date('19990421','YYYYMMDD'), 2344.78, 'Vancouver','Manager')
  3  /

1 row created.

SQL> insert into Employee(ID,  First_Name, Last_Name, Start_Date,                     End_Date,                       Salary,  City,       Description)
  2                values('05','Robert',   'Black',   to_date('19840115','YYYYMMDD'), to_date('19980808','YYYYMMDD'), 2334.78, 'Vancouver','Tester')
  3  /

1 row created.

SQL> insert into Employee(ID,  First_Name, Last_Name, Start_Date,                     End_Date,                       Salary, City,        Description)
  2                values('06','Linda',    'Green',   to_date('19870730','YYYYMMDD'), to_date('19960104','YYYYMMDD'), 4322.78,'New York',  'Tester')
  3  /

1 row created.

SQL> insert into Employee(ID,  First_Name, Last_Name, Start_Date,                     End_Date,                       Salary, City,        Description)
  2                values('07','David',    'Larry',   to_date('19901231','YYYYMMDD'), to_date('19980212','YYYYMMDD'), 7897.78,'New York',  'Manager')
  3  /

1 row created.

SQL> insert into Employee(ID,  First_Name, Last_Name, Start_Date,                     End_Date,                       Salary, City,        Description)
  2                values('08','James',    'Cat',     to_date('19960917','YYYYMMDD'), to_date('20020415','YYYYMMDD'), 1232.78,'Vancouver', 'Tester')
  3  /

1 row created.

SQL>
SQL>
SQL>
SQL> -- display data in the table
SQL> select * from Employee
  2  /

ID   FIRST_NAME LAST_NAME  START_DAT END_DATE      SALARY CITY       DESCRIPTION
---- ---------- ---------- --------- --------- ---------- ---------- ---------------
01   Jason      Martin     25-JUL-96 25-JUL-06    1234.56 Toronto    Programmer
02   Alison     Mathews    21-MAR-76 21-FEB-86    6661.78 Vancouver  Tester
03   James      Smith      12-DEC-78 15-MAR-90    6544.78 Vancouver  Tester
04   Celia      Rice       24-OCT-82 21-APR-99    2344.78 Vancouver  Manager
05   Robert     Black      15-JAN-84 08-AUG-98    2334.78 Vancouver  Tester
06   Linda      Green      30-JUL-87 04-JAN-96    4322.78 New York   Tester
07   David      Larry      31-DEC-90 12-FEB-98    7897.78 New York   Manager
08   James      Cat        17-SEP-96 15-APR-02    1232.78 Vancouver  Tester

8 rows selected.

SQL>
SQL>
SQL> SELECT * FROM employee ORDER BY last_name Desc;

ID   FIRST_NAME LAST_NAME  START_DAT END_DATE      SALARY CITY       DESCRIPTION
---- ---------- ---------- --------- --------- ---------- ---------- ---------------
03   James      Smith      12-DEC-78 15-MAR-90    6544.78 Vancouver  Tester
04   Celia      Rice       24-OCT-82 21-APR-99    2344.78 Vancouver  Manager
02   Alison     Mathews    21-MAR-76 21-FEB-86    6661.78 Vancouver  Tester
01   Jason      Martin     25-JUL-96 25-JUL-06    1234.56 Toronto    Programmer
07   David      Larry      31-DEC-90 12-FEB-98    7897.78 New York   Manager
06   Linda      Green      30-JUL-87 04-JAN-96    4322.78 New York   Tester
08   James      Cat        17-SEP-96 15-APR-02    1232.78 Vancouver  Tester
05   Robert     Black      15-JAN-84 08-AUG-98    2334.78 Vancouver  Tester

8 rows selected.

SQL>
SQL>
SQL>
SQL> -- clean the table
SQL> drop table Employee
  2  /

Table dropped.

2.4.Order By
	2.4.1.	Sorting Rows Using the ORDER BY Clause
	2.4.2.	Sort last name ascending
	2.4.3.	Sort last name descending
	2.4.4.	Sort one column ascending and another column descending
	2.4.5.	Sort by index ascending and descending
	2.4.6.	Reference alias name in order by clause
	2.4.7.	Order by a calculated column
	2.4.8.	Sort the rows by descending order with DESC appended to order by clause
	2.4.9.	Sort two columns with different ordering
	2.4.10.	Use a column position number in the ORDER BY clause
	2.4.11.	A SELECT with Ordering
	2.4.12.	Order the table on the employee's original salary (orig_salary)
	2.4.13.	Order by two columns
	2.4.14.	Add aggregate function in order by clause
	2.4.15.	Order by username
	2.4.16.	Combine order by clause with case statement
	2.4.17.	Order Your Email