Oracle SQL to Sort Version Numbers

Question

In Oracle, just using the ORDER BY does not sort version numbers. My Version_Number field is declared as a VARCHAR and I cannot change it. For Example: The following versions :

1.20  
1.9   
1.18  
1.13  
1.5   
1.11  
2.0  
1.8   
1.3   
1.2   
1.1   
1.0   
1.10  

should be sorted as

2.0   
1.20  
1.18  
1.13 
1.11 
1.10  
1.9   
1.8   
1.5  
1.3   
1.2   
1.1 
1.0   

I have researched several posts but none of them seem to really serve my purpose or the answers were intended for SQL Server, etc and not Oracle. I came across this particular sql which seemed to look like it worked.

select version_number from mytable 
order by lpad(version_number, 4) desc;

which sorted the versions in this fashion:

1.20    
1.18   
1.13   
1.11   
1.10   
2.0    
1.9    
1.8   
1.5     
1.3    
1.2    
1.1    
1.0    

I believe this sql statement works for SQL Server :

select version_number from mytable 
order by cast ('/' + replace(version_number , '.', '/') + '/' as hierarchyid) desc;

However, this does not work with Oracle. Is there an alternative to hierarchyid in Oracle?


Is there anyone who can come up with a SQL to sort these versions accurately?

I have already seen the posts mentioned below (links attached). So kindly do not tell me that this post is a duplicate.
SQL sort by version "number", a string of varying length
How Can I Sort A 'Version Number' Column Generically Using a SQL Server Query
Version number sorting in Sql Server
mysql sorting of version numbers
and many more.

Answer 1

This is one way to do it. First order by the number before . and then by the numbers after .

select version_number 
from mytable 
order by substr(version_number, 1, instr(version_number,'.')-1) desc
        ,length(substr(version_number, instr(version_number,'.')+1)) desc
        ,substr(version_number, instr(version_number,'.')+1) desc

Answer 2

This SQL supports your input data plus any included Revision or Build digits.

with 
   inputs as (select '1.20'         as version_number from dual union all  
              select '1.9'          as version_number from dual union all
              select '1.18'         as version_number from dual union all
              select '1.13'         as version_number from dual union all
              select '1.5'          as version_number from dual union all
              select '1.11'         as version_number from dual union all
              select '2.0'          as version_number from dual union all
              select '1.8'          as version_number from dual union all
              select '1.3'          as version_number from dual union all
              select '1.2'          as version_number from dual union all
              select '1.1'          as version_number from dual union all
              select '1.0'          as version_number from dual union all
              select '1.10'         as version_number from dual union all
              select ' 3.1 '        as version_number from dual union all
              select '3.1.1000'     as version_number from dual union all
              select '3.1.1'        as version_number from dual union all
              select '3.1.100'      as version_number from dual union all
              select '3.1.2.1000'   as version_number from dual union all
              select '3.1.2.1'      as version_number from dual union all
              select '3.1.2.100 '   as version_number from dual)
,versions as  (select  trim(version_number) as version_number,
        nvl(LPAD(trim(regexp_substr(version_number, '[^.]+', 1, 1)),5,'0'),'00000') AS Major,
        nvl(LPAD(trim(regexp_substr(version_number, '[^.]+', 1, 2)),5,'0'),'00000') AS Minor, 
        nvl(LPAD(trim(regexp_substr(version_number, '[^.]+', 1, 3)),5,'0'),'00000') AS Revision, 
        nvl(LPAD(trim(regexp_substr(version_number, '[^.]+', 1, 4)),5,'0'),'00000') AS Build 
        from inputs 
        ORDER BY Major desc, Minor desc, Revision desc, Build desc)
--select * from versions; 
select version_number from versions; 

Remove the -- to see the intermediate result.

For OP, replace "inputs as (select ... from dual)" with:

   inputs as (select version_number from mytable)

Answer 3

As Joel Coehoorn suggestions here, "refactor version number storage so that each section has it's own column: MajorVersion, MinorVersion, Revision, Build".

I'm re-posting as I found this very helpful!

To expand, I was looking to get the MAX version number, and ended up using this script along with Joel's suggestion.

    -- GET MAX VERSION NUMBER
    SELECT
        REPLACE(vnum, ' ', '') AS versionum
    FROM
        (SELECT
            MAX(LPAD(major, 4) || '.' || LPAD(minor, 4) || '.' || LPAD(revision, 4)) AS vnum
        FROM
            my_table
        ORDER BY
            major
          , minor
          , revision
        ) tbl1