Trouble using ROW_NUMBER() OVER (PARTITION BY …)

Question

I\'m using SQL Server 2008 R2. I have table called EmployeeHistory with the following structure and sample data:

EmployeeID Date      DepartmentID SupervisorID
1         


        

Answer 1

It looks like a common gaps-and-islands problem. The difference between two sequences of row numbers rn1 and rn2 give the "group" number.

Run this query CTE-by-CTE and examine intermediate results to see how it works.

Sample data

I expanded sample data from the question a little.

DECLARE @Source TABLE
(
    EmployeeID int,
    DateStarted date,
    DepartmentID int
)

INSERT INTO @Source
VALUES
(10001,'2013-01-01',001),
(10001,'2013-09-09',001),
(10001,'2013-12-01',002),
(10001,'2014-05-01',002),
(10001,'2014-10-01',001),
(10001,'2014-12-01',001),

(10005,'2013-05-01',001),
(10005,'2013-11-09',001),
(10005,'2013-12-01',002),
(10005,'2014-10-01',001),
(10005,'2016-12-01',001);

Query for SQL Server 2008

There is no LEAD function in SQL Server 2008, so I had to use self-join via OUTER APPLY to get the value of the "next" row for the DateEnd.

WITH
CTE
AS
(
    SELECT
        EmployeeID
        ,DateStarted
        ,DepartmentID
        ,ROW_NUMBER() OVER (PARTITION BY EmployeeID ORDER BY DateStarted) AS rn1
        ,ROW_NUMBER() OVER (PARTITION BY EmployeeID, DepartmentID ORDER BY DateStarted) AS rn2
    FROM @Source
)
,CTE_Groups
AS
(
    SELECT
        EmployeeID
        ,MIN(DateStarted) AS DateStart
        ,DepartmentID
    FROM CTE
    GROUP BY
        EmployeeID
        ,DepartmentID
        ,rn1 - rn2
)
SELECT
    CTE_Groups.EmployeeID
    ,CTE_Groups.DepartmentID
    ,CTE_Groups.DateStart
    ,A.DateEnd
FROM
    CTE_Groups
    OUTER APPLY
    (
        SELECT TOP(1) G2.DateStart AS DateEnd
        FROM CTE_Groups AS G2
        WHERE
            G2.EmployeeID = CTE_Groups.EmployeeID
            AND G2.DateStart > CTE_Groups.DateStart
        ORDER BY G2.DateStart
    ) AS A
ORDER BY
    EmployeeID
    ,DateStart
;

Query for SQL Server 2012+

Starting with SQL Server 2012 there is a LEAD function that makes this task more efficient.

WITH
CTE
AS
(
    SELECT
        EmployeeID
        ,DateStarted
        ,DepartmentID
        ,ROW_NUMBER() OVER (PARTITION BY EmployeeID ORDER BY DateStarted) AS rn1
        ,ROW_NUMBER() OVER (PARTITION BY EmployeeID, DepartmentID ORDER BY DateStarted) AS rn2
    FROM @Source
)
,CTE_Groups
AS
(
    SELECT
        EmployeeID
        ,MIN(DateStarted) AS DateStart
        ,DepartmentID
    FROM CTE
    GROUP BY
        EmployeeID
        ,DepartmentID
        ,rn1 - rn2
)
SELECT
    CTE_Groups.EmployeeID
    ,CTE_Groups.DepartmentID
    ,CTE_Groups.DateStart
    ,LEAD(CTE_Groups.DateStart) OVER (PARTITION BY CTE_Groups.EmployeeID ORDER BY CTE_Groups.DateStart) AS DateEnd
FROM
    CTE_Groups
ORDER BY
    EmployeeID
    ,DateStart
;

Result

+------------+--------------+------------+------------+
| EmployeeID | DepartmentID | DateStart  |  DateEnd   |
+------------+--------------+------------+------------+
|      10001 |            1 | 2013-01-01 | 2013-12-01 |
|      10001 |            2 | 2013-12-01 | 2014-10-01 |
|      10001 |            1 | 2014-10-01 | NULL       |
|      10005 |            1 | 2013-05-01 | 2013-12-01 |
|      10005 |            2 | 2013-12-01 | 2014-10-01 |
|      10005 |            1 | 2014-10-01 | NULL       |
+------------+--------------+------------+------------+