diff --git a/doc/src/sgml/syntax.sgml b/doc/src/sgml/syntax.sgml index fcf5f161d8b55856d331b514f12bb73d5f0ff42a..16aa89f497f3cc2c7066f4acf48a4ae08e4b4742 100644 --- a/doc/src/sgml/syntax.sgml +++ b/doc/src/sgml/syntax.sgml @@ -1,4 +1,4 @@ -<!-- $PostgreSQL: pgsql/doc/src/sgml/syntax.sgml,v 1.148 2010/07/20 00:34:44 rhaas Exp $ --> +<!-- $PostgreSQL: pgsql/doc/src/sgml/syntax.sgml,v 1.149 2010/08/04 15:27:57 tgl Exp $ --> <chapter id="sql-syntax"> <title>SQL Syntax</title> @@ -1567,7 +1567,7 @@ sqrt(2) unspecified order. In many cases this does not matter; for example, <function>min</> produces the same result no matter what order it receives the inputs in. However, some aggregate functions - (such as <function>array_agg</> and <function>xmlagg</>) produce + (such as <function>array_agg</> and <function>string_agg</>) produce results that depend on the ordering of the input rows. When using such an aggregate, the optional <replaceable>order_by_clause</> can be used to specify the desired ordering. The <replaceable>order_by_clause</> @@ -1575,12 +1575,26 @@ sqrt(2) described in <xref linkend="queries-order">, except that its expressions are always just expressions and cannot be output-column names or numbers. For example: - <programlisting> SELECT array_agg(a ORDER BY b DESC) FROM table; </programlisting> </para> + <para> + When dealing with multiple-argument aggregate functions, note that the + <literal>ORDER BY</> clause goes after all the aggregate arguments. + For example, this: +<programlisting> +SELECT string_agg(a, ',' ORDER BY a) FROM table; +</programlisting> + not this: +<programlisting> +SELECT string_agg(a ORDER BY a, ',') FROM table; -- not what you want +</programlisting> + The latter syntax will be accepted, but <literal>','</> will be + treated as a (useless) sort key. + </para> + <para> If <literal>DISTINCT</> is specified in addition to an <replaceable>order_by_clause</>, then all the <literal>ORDER BY</>