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I am trying to join two tables in SQL (Snowflake) that have hierarchical data. Table A contains rows with all possible levels of the hierarchy in each row, whereas Table B contains individual rows for each level of the hierarchy. Additionally, some rows in Table A may contain a higher level of data than Table B. In this case, the goal is to pick the highest matching level from Table B. A challenge is that the level needed in Table A isn't constant as the matching level in Table B varies.

Below are examples of each table:

Table A:

Row    Level 1     Level 2     Level 3
1      Animal      Mammal      Dog
2      Animal      Mammal      Cat
3      Animal      Reptile     Lizard
4      Animal      Reptile     Snake
5      Tree        Oak         Live Oak
6      Tree        Elm         Cedar Elm

Table B:

Row    Level 1     Level 2     Level 3     Category
1      Animal      Mammal      Dog         D
2      Animal      Reptile     Lizard      L
3      Animal      Mammal                  M
4      Animal      Reptile                 R
5      Animal                              A
6      Tree        Oak         Live Oak    LO
7      Tree        Oak                     O
8      Tree                                T

Desired Results:

Row    Level 1     Level 2     Level 3     Category
1      Animal      Mammal      Dog         D
2      Animal      Mammal      Cat         M
3      Animal      Reptile     Lizard      L
4      Animal      Reptile     Snake       R
5      Tree        Oak         Live Oak    LO
6      Tree        Elm         Cedar Elm   T 

In the above results table, rows 1, 3, and 5 matched on Level 3. Rows 2 and 4 matched on Level 2. Row 6 matched on Level 1. Below is the code I've tried that produced the closest results:

SELECT a.lvl_1, a.lvl_2, a.lvl_3, b.category
FROM TABLE_A a
LEFT JOIN TABLE_B b
    ON COALESCE(b.lvl_3, b.lvl_2, b.lvl_1) IN (a.lvl_1, a.lvl_2, a.lvl_3)

The problem is that the resulting table shows all rows with matches at any level. For example:

Current Results:

Row    Level 1     Level 2     Level 3     Category
1      Animal      Mammal      Dog         D
2      Animal      Mammal      Dog         M
3      Animal      Mammal      Dog         A
4      Animal      Mammal      Cat         M
5      Animal      Mammal      Cat         A
...

If I check for equality at a specific level, the results are correct for that level, but NULL for the other levels:

SELECT a.lvl_1, a.lvl_2, a.lvl_3, b.category
FROM TABLE_A a
LEFT JOIN TABLE_B b
    ON COALESCE(b.lvl_3, b.lvl_2, b.lvl_1) = a.lvl_3

Equality Results:

Row    Level 1     Level 2     Level 3     Category
1      Animal      Mammal      Dog         D
2      Animal      Mammal      Cat         null
3      Animal      Reptile     Lizard      L
4      Animal      Reptile     Snake       null
5      Tree        Oak         Live Oak    LO
6      Tree        Elm         Cedar Elm   null

How can I join Table B with Table A to return the single Category of the highest level match? Any help is greatly appreciated. Thank you.

I am trying to join two tables in SQL (Snowflake) that have hierarchical data. Table A contains rows with all possible levels of the hierarchy in each row, whereas Table B contains individual rows for each level of the hierarchy. Additionally, some rows in Table A may contain a higher level of data than Table B. In this case, the goal is to pick the highest matching level from Table B. A challenge is that the level needed in Table A isn't constant as the matching level in Table B varies.

Below are examples of each table:

Table A:

Row    Level 1     Level 2     Level 3
1      Animal      Mammal      Dog
2      Animal      Mammal      Cat
3      Animal      Reptile     Lizard
4      Animal      Reptile     Snake
5      Tree        Oak         Live Oak
6      Tree        Elm         Cedar Elm

Table B:

Row    Level 1     Level 2     Level 3     Category
1      Animal      Mammal      Dog         D
2      Animal      Reptile     Lizard      L
3      Animal      Mammal                  M
4      Animal      Reptile                 R
5      Animal                              A
6      Tree        Oak         Live Oak    LO
7      Tree        Oak                     O
8      Tree                                T

Desired Results:

Row    Level 1     Level 2     Level 3     Category
1      Animal      Mammal      Dog         D
2      Animal      Mammal      Cat         M
3      Animal      Reptile     Lizard      L
4      Animal      Reptile     Snake       R
5      Tree        Oak         Live Oak    LO
6      Tree        Elm         Cedar Elm   T 

In the above results table, rows 1, 3, and 5 matched on Level 3. Rows 2 and 4 matched on Level 2. Row 6 matched on Level 1. Below is the code I've tried that produced the closest results:

SELECT a.lvl_1, a.lvl_2, a.lvl_3, b.category
FROM TABLE_A a
LEFT JOIN TABLE_B b
    ON COALESCE(b.lvl_3, b.lvl_2, b.lvl_1) IN (a.lvl_1, a.lvl_2, a.lvl_3)

The problem is that the resulting table shows all rows with matches at any level. For example:

Current Results:

Row    Level 1     Level 2     Level 3     Category
1      Animal      Mammal      Dog         D
2      Animal      Mammal      Dog         M
3      Animal      Mammal      Dog         A
4      Animal      Mammal      Cat         M
5      Animal      Mammal      Cat         A
...

If I check for equality at a specific level, the results are correct for that level, but NULL for the other levels:

SELECT a.lvl_1, a.lvl_2, a.lvl_3, b.category
FROM TABLE_A a
LEFT JOIN TABLE_B b
    ON COALESCE(b.lvl_3, b.lvl_2, b.lvl_1) = a.lvl_3

Equality Results:

Row    Level 1     Level 2     Level 3     Category
1      Animal      Mammal      Dog         D
2      Animal      Mammal      Cat         null
3      Animal      Reptile     Lizard      L
4      Animal      Reptile     Snake       null
5      Tree        Oak         Live Oak    LO
6      Tree        Elm         Cedar Elm   null

How can I join Table B with Table A to return the single Category of the highest level match? Any help is greatly appreciated. Thank you.

• sql
• join
• hierarchical

Share Improve this question Follow asked 1 hour ago j.smithj.smith 3722 silver badges77 bronze badges 1

• Please tag the RDBMS you are using... – Dale K Commented 1 hour ago

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1 Answer 1

Sorted by: Reset to default 0

Finding categories using joins would be appropriate to perform in the following procedure:

• Temporary table 1. All columns of table_a, plus add a column containing category values that match completely up to level3
• Temporary table 2. For rows in temporary table 1 where category is null, find and set categories matching up to level2
• Temporary table 3. For rows in temporary table 2 where category is null, find and set categories matching up to level1

On the other hand, in this situation it also seems possible to apply the coalesce() function to possible categories without using joins:

select
    *,
    coalesce(
        (select category from table_b b where b.level_1 = a.level_1 and b.level_2 = a.level_2 and b.level_3 = a.level_3),
        (select category from table_b b where b.level_1 = a.level_1 and b.level_2 = a.level_2 and b.level_3 is null),
        (select category from table_b b where b.level_1 = a.level_1 and b.level_2 is null and b.level_3 is null)
    ) category
from table_a a

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