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Software ==>	SQL (203 exercises)
Topic ==>	Simple Queries (7 exercises)
Level ==>	Average difficulty
Subject ==>	SQL training

Select and sort a list of albums, showing the top items for different columns.

This exercise is provided to allow potential course delegates to choose the correct Wise Owl Microsoft training course, and may not be reproduced in whole or in part in any format without the prior written consent of Wise Owl.

Before you can do this exercise, you'll need to download and unzip this file . If you want to download the SQL Server database that this yields:

Go into SQL Server Management Studio;
Open the SQL file you've just unzipped (you can press CTRL + O to do this); then
Execute this script.

This will generate the database that you'll need to use in order to do this exercise (remember to refresh your list of databases to see it!). Note that any files provided are only to be used for exercises published on this website, and may not be reused or distributed in any form without the prior written permission of Wise Owl.

If you don't have a copy of the Music_01 database, follow the instructions at the following link to create it: www.wiseowl.co.uk/sql/exercises/standard/using-sql-server/5257/

Create a query to select the columns shown in the image below from the Album table. Sort the results in descending order of US sales.

A list of albums sorted by US sales produced by a SQL Select statement.

If you're curious about who made the top selling album you could copy the Wiki URL into a web browser.

Modify the query so that it returns only the top five best-selling albums. You can use the SELECT TOP n syntax to specify the number of rows you want to return.

The results of a SELECT TOP 5 query in SQL Server Management Studio

These are the results you should see.

The fifth album in the list sold 18 million copies. At the moment we can't see if any other albums have the same sales figures. Modify the query so that it returns any additional albums whose sales are tied with the fifth one. You can use the WITH TIES syntax to do this.

Tied results from a SELECT TOP query in SQL Server Management Studio.

You should return one more row than the five you've requested.

In the same script, write a new query to return the three most recently released albums. Make sure to include any additional albums that were released on the same date as the third one.