SQL - Subquery in Aggregate Function

Question

I'm using the northwind database to refresh my SQL skills by creating some more or less complex queries. Unfortunately I could not find a solution for my last use case: "Get the sum of the five greatest orders for every category in year 1997."

The tables involved are:

Orders(OrderId, OrderDate)
Order Details(OrderId, ProductId, Quantity, UnitPrice)
Products(ProductId, CategoryId)
Categories(CategoryId, CategoryName)

I have tried the following query

SELECT c.CategoryName, SUM(
  (SELECT TOP 5 od2.UnitPrice*od2.Quantity 
   FROM [Order Details] od2, Products p2
   WHERE od2.ProductID = p2.ProductID
   AND c.CategoryID = p2.CategoryID
   ORDER BY 1 DESC))
FROM [Order Details] od, Products p, Categories c, Orders o 
WHERE od.ProductID = p. ProductID
AND p.CategoryID = c.CategoryID
AND od.OrderID = o.OrderID
AND YEAR(o.OrderDate) = 1997
GROUP BY c.CategoryName

Well... It turned out that subqueries are not allowed in aggregate functions. I've read other posts about this issue but could not find a solution for my specific use case. Hope you can help me out...

Answer 1

Subqueries are not generally allowed in aggregate functions. Instead, move the aggregate inside the subquery. In this case, you'll need an extra level of subquery because of the top 5:

SELECT c.CategoryName,
  (select sum(val)
   from (SELECT TOP 5 od2.UnitPrice*od2.Quantity as val
         FROM [Order Details] od2, Products p2
         WHERE od2.ProductID = p2.ProductID
         AND c.CategoryID = p2.CategoryID
         ORDER BY 1 DESC
        ) t
  )
FROM [Order Details] od, Products p, Categories c, Orders o 
WHERE od.ProductID = p. ProductID
AND p.CategoryID = c.CategoryID
AND od.OrderID = o.OrderID
AND YEAR(o.OrderDate) = 1997
GROUP BY c.CategoryName, c.CategoryId