Sql server union but keep order

Question

Is there a way to union two tables, but keep the rows from the first table appearing first in the result set?

For example:

Table1

name                


        

Answer 1

;WITH cte as (
    SELECT name, surname, 1 as n FROM table1
    UNION ALL
    SELECT name, surname, 2 as n FROM table2
    UNION ALL
    SELECT name, surname, 3 as n FROM table3
)
SELECT name, surname
FROM cte
ORDER BY n;

Answer 2

The only way to guarantee output order is to use ORDER BY:

SELECT name,surname,1 as rs
FROM table1
UNION ALL
SELECT name,surname,2
FROM table2
ORDER BY rs

If you don't want rs to appear in the final result set, do the UNION as a subquery:

SELECT name,surname
FROM (
  SELECT name,surname,1 as rs
  FROM table1
  UNION ALL
  SELECT name,surname,2
  FROM table2
) t
ORDER BY rs

Answer 3

Try this :-

Select * 
from
( 
Select name,surname, 1 as filter
from  Table1
Union all
Select name,surname , 2 as filter
from Table2
)
order by filter

Answer 4

.Like this?

CREATE TABLE #Table1 (Names VARCHAR(50))
CREATE TABLE #Table2 (Names VARCHAR(50))

INSERT INTO #Table1
(
    Names
)
VALUES
    ('John Doe'), ('Bob Marley'), ('Ras Tafari') 

INSERT INTO #Table2
(
    Names
)
VALUES
    ('Lucky Dube'), ('Abby Arnold') 


SELECT ArbSeq   = 1, *
FROM #Table1
UNION ALL
SELECT ArbSeq   = 2, *
FROM #Table2
ORDER BY ArbSeq

It should be noted that ordering is not guaranteed when not explicitly defined. If the table features a clustered index, the rows will typically be returned in the index's order - but this is not guaranteed.