Same query returns differently ordered results

[NWChowd]

Hi everyone,

I'm looking for a clear explanation as to why some queries return result sets that are ordered differently each time the query is run. The result sets are the same, just the order is different.

Thanks,
NWChowd



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"I wish that I may never think the smiles of the great and powerful a sufficient inducement to turn aside from the straight path of honesty and the convictions of my own mind."
-David Ricardo, classical economist
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[vongrunt]

Is ORDER BY specified or not?

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"There's a man... He's bald and wears a short-sleeved shirt, and somehow he's very important to me. I think his name is Homer."
(Jack O'Neill, Stargate)

 

[SQLDenis]

Use order by if you want ordered results that are the same every time
Physical order is never guaranteed (even if you have a clustered index)

Denis The SQL Menace
SQL blog:

http://sqlservercode.blogspot.com/

Personal Blog:

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[NWChowd]

Order by is not specified. I was under the assumption that physical order would be the same if a field was indexed. thanks for the clarification.



======================================
"I wish that I may never think the smiles of the great and powerful a sufficient inducement to turn aside from the straight path of honesty and the convictions of my own mind."
-David Ricardo, classical economist
======================================