Get sum of averages - a challenge

  • I have a need for a query that groups data, returns averages for the groups, but also sums those averages. This has been stumping me...

    A simplified version of the table is

    CREATE TABLE table_1 (Curr_date DATE, Action CHAR(15), Duration FLOAT)

    Data is like

    INSERT Table_1 VALUES ('2013-03-29','SignOn',1000.1234);

    INSERT Table_1 VALUES ('2013-03-29','GetBal',450.1234);

    INSERT Table_1 VALUES ('2013-03-29','SignOn',900.1234);

    INSERT Table_1 VALUES ('2013-03-29','GetBal',300.1234);

    INSERT Table_1 VALUES ('2013-03-29','SignOn',1100.1234);

    INSERT Table_1 VALUES ('2013-03-29','GetBal',475.1234);

    INSERT Table_1 VALUES ('2013-03-29','SignOn',950.1234);

    INSERT Table_1 VALUES ('2013-03-29','GetBal',320.1234);

    INSERT Table_1 VALUES ('2013-03-29','SignOn',800.1234);

    I can get the average action durations like this

    SELECT Curr_date, Action, AVG(Duration)/1000 as Avg_Duration

    FROM Table_1

    WHERE Curr_date = CAST(GETDATE() as DATE)

    GROUP BY Curr_date, Action

    [font="Courier New"]Curr_dateActionAvg_Duration

    2013-03-29GetBal 0.3863734

    2013-03-29SignOn 0.9501234[/font]

    But I also need to sum those averages for both actions together. So for SignOn and GetBal together the sum is about 1.34. Anyone have any good suggestions for that? Thanks!

  • Not totally sure how you want the output but this should at least get you started.

    ;with MyAverage as

    (

    SELECT Curr_date, Action, AVG(Duration)/1000 as Avg_Duration

    FROM Table_1

    WHERE Curr_date = CAST(GETDATE() as DATE)

    GROUP BY Curr_date, Action

    )

    select Curr_date, Action, Avg_Duration, (select sum(AVG_Duration) from MyAverage) as SummedAverage

    from MyAverage

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  • That's nice and elegant. Thanks!

    Starting a sql statement with WITH is new to me. I will have to look into that closer but it works great.

  • Ken Davis (3/29/2013)


    That's nice and elegant. Thanks!

    Starting a sql statement with WITH is new to me. I will have to look into that closer but it works great.

    It is a common table expression or CTE. You should certainly read up on them as they are quite useful.

    http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms190766%28v=sql.105%29.aspx

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  • Until you get to SQL 2012, you also have the "quick-and-dirty" version of that, using COMPUTE:

    SELECT Curr_date, Action, AVG(Duration)/1000 as Avg_Duration

    FROM Table_1

    WHERE Curr_date = CAST(GETDATE() as DATE)

    GROUP BY Curr_date, Action

    -- added AVG just to show that multiple COMPUTE functions can be specified :-)

    COMPUTE SUM(AVG(Duration)/1000), AVG(AVG(Duration)/1000)

    It's sometimes easier just to slap on a COMPUTE than to rejigger the query ... and, as so often, in this case it avoids another full scan of the table (COMPUTE's a fun cheat, it died too young!).

    Note that the COMPUTEd value(s) are a separate result set, and do not have any column heading other than the function used to create them, i.e., column is named "sum" or "avg" or "count" or whatever.

    SQL DBA,SQL Server MVP(07, 08, 09) "It's a dog-eat-dog world, and I'm wearing Milk-Bone underwear." "Norm", on "Cheers". Also from "Cheers", from "Carla": "You need to know 3 things about Tortelli men: Tortelli men draw women like flies; Tortelli men treat women like flies; Tortelli men's brains are in their flies".

  • ScottPletcher (3/29/2013)


    Until you get to SQL 2012, you also have the "quick-and-dirty" version of that, using COMPUTE:

    SELECT Curr_date, Action, AVG(Duration)/1000 as Avg_Duration

    FROM Table_1

    WHERE Curr_date = CAST(GETDATE() as DATE)

    GROUP BY Curr_date, Action

    -- added AVG just to show that multiple COMPUTE functions can be specified :-)

    COMPUTE SUM(AVG(Duration)/1000), AVG(AVG(Duration)/1000)

    It's sometimes easier just to slap on a COMPUTE than to rejigger the query ... and, as so often, in this case it avoids another full scan of the table (COMPUTE's a fun cheat, it died too young!).

    Note that the COMPUTEd value(s) are a separate result set, and do not have any column heading other than the function used to create them, i.e., column is named "sum" or "avg" or "count" or whatever.

    I never even think about COMPUTE. I have seen it before but never really used it. Thanks for the reminder of that long forgotten and neglected feature.

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  • I want to push my luck and add one more wrinkle. Say the Curr_Date column is DATETIME and the output of the MyAverage CTE express is grouped by HourOfDay like this:

    Curr_date HourOfDay Action Avg_Duration

    2013-03-29 07 SignOn 0.950123

    2013-03-29 07 GetBal 0.386373

    2013-03-29 08 SignOn 0.891234

    2013-03-29 08 GetlBal 0.423432

    2013-03-29 09 SignOn 0.912342

    2013-03-29 09 GetBal 0.372323

    And I need to sum those average durations within each hour. So the output would look like:

    Curr_date HourOfDay Action Avg_Duration SummedAverage

    2013-03-29 07 SignOn 0.950123 1.336496

    2013-03-29 07 GetBal 0.386373 1.336496

    2013-03-29 08 SignOn 0.891234 1.314666

    2013-03-29 08 GetlBal 0.423432 1.314666

    2013-03-29 09 SignOn 0.912342 1.284665

    2013-03-29 09 GetBal 0.372323 1.284665

    Any tricks you can show me there?

  • Ken Davis (3/29/2013)


    I want to push my luck and add one more wrinkle. Say the Curr_Date column is DATETIME and the output of the MyAverage CTE express is grouped by HourOfDay like this:

    Curr_date HourOfDay Action Avg_Duration

    2013-03-29 07 SignOn 0.950123

    2013-03-29 07 GetBal 0.386373

    2013-03-29 08 SignOn 0.891234

    2013-03-29 08 GetlBal 0.423432

    2013-03-29 09 SignOn 0.912342

    2013-03-29 09 GetBal 0.372323

    And I need to sum those average durations within each hour. So the output would look like:

    Curr_date HourOfDay Action Avg_Duration SummedAverage

    2013-03-29 07 SignOn 0.950123 1.336496

    2013-03-29 07 GetBal 0.386373 1.336496

    2013-03-29 08 SignOn 0.891234 1.314666

    2013-03-29 08 GetlBal 0.423432 1.314666

    2013-03-29 09 SignOn 0.912342 1.284665

    2013-03-29 09 GetBal 0.372323 1.284665

    Any tricks you can show me there?

    Can you post ALL of the requirements? Also it would be helpful if you could post your data in a consumable format. Notice in my first post you don't have to do any extra work to get data because I posted it.

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  • Understood. I won't add any more requirements.

    The table:

    CREATE TABLE table_1(

    [Curr_date] [datetime] NULL,

    [Action] [char](15) NULL,

    [Duration] [float] NULL

    )

    Some data:

    INSERT INTO Table_1

    (Curr_date,Action,Duration)

    SELECT 'Mar 29 2013 7:05AM','SignOn ','1000.12' UNION ALL

    SELECT 'Mar 29 2013 7:30AM','GetBal ','450.123' UNION ALL

    SELECT 'Mar 29 2013 8:15AM','SignOn ','900.123' UNION ALL

    SELECT 'Mar 29 2013 8:32AM','GetBal ','300.123' UNION ALL

    SELECT 'Mar 29 2013 8:45AM','SignOn ','1100.12' UNION ALL

    SELECT 'Mar 29 2013 9:10AM','GetBal ','475.123' UNION ALL

    SELECT 'Mar 29 2013 9:12AM','SignOn ','950.123' UNION ALL

    SELECT 'Mar 29 2013 9:38AM','GetBal ','320.123' UNION ALL

    SELECT 'Mar 29 2013 9:49AM','SignOn ','800.123'

    Here is what I am trying.

    ;with MyAverage as

    (

    SELECT CAST(Curr_date as DATE) as CurrentDate, DATEPART(hour, Curr_date) as HourOfDay, Action, AVG(Duration)/1000 as Avg_Duration

    FROM Table_1

    WHERE CAST(Curr_date as Date) = CAST(GETDATE() as DATE)

    GROUP BY DATEPART(hour, Curr_date), Action, Curr_date

    )

    SELECT CurrentDate, HourOfDay, Action, Avg_Duration, (SELECT sum(AVG_Duration) FROM MyAverage) as SummedAverage

    FROM MyAverage

    You can see what that returns. My goal is to get 6 rows, 2 for each hour, with the SignOn and GetBal averages added together. So with this data SummedAverage will be about 1.45 for the 7:00 hour.

    Thanks for your time.

  • Thanks having ddl and data makes this a lot easier to deal with. I think you want something like this.

    ;with MyNewAverage as

    (

    select Action, Duration, Curr_date, DATEPART(hour, Curr_date) as HourOfDay, AVG(Duration)/1000 as Avg_Duration

    from table_1

    group by Action, Duration, Curr_date, DATEPART(hour, Curr_date)

    )

    SELECT HourOfDay, Action, sum(Avg_Duration), (SELECT sum(AVG_Duration) FROM MyNewAverage where DATEPART(hour, cast(Curr_date as datetime)) = m.HourOfDay) as SummedAverage

    FROM MyNewAverage m

    group by HourOfDay, Action

    order by HourOfDay, Action

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    Understanding and Using APPLY (Part 1) - http://www.sqlservercentral.com/articles/APPLY/69953/
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  • Perfect. thanks much

  • you're welcome.

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    Cross Tabs and Pivots, Part 1 – Converting Rows to Columns - http://www.sqlservercentral.com/articles/T-SQL/63681/
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