How Can I Find the Closest Numeric Match in a SQL Database?

Closest Numeric Match Retrieval in SQL Databases

Finding the nearest numeric value in a database table can be useful in various applications. For instance, it could assist in identifying similar products, estimating values, or performing data interpolation.

Consider the given SQL query:

SELECT * FROM [myTable] 
WHERE Name = 'Test' AND Size = 2 AND PType = 'p' 
ORDER BY Area DESC

However, this query only returns exact matches for the 'Area' field. To find the closest match, regardless of an exact match, we need to modify the query.

The solution involves calculating the absolute difference between the 'Area' field and the desired input value. By doing this, we ensure that the result is always positive, regardless of whether the match is higher or lower than the input. Ascending order is then applied to sort the results by this difference, and the topmost record represents the closest match.

The modified query becomes:

SELECT TOP 1 * FROM [myTable] 
WHERE Name = 'Test' and Size = 2 and PType = 'p'
ORDER BY ABS( Area - @input ) 

In this query, '@input' is a parameter that represents the desired input value.

By implementing this solution, one can effectively retrieve the closest match to a specified numeric value in a database and use it for their desired purposes.

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