Sorting by multiple dates in one table

We are wanting to build a recent activity table in our website which will act as a timeline for recent orders.

The current table

id | order date | shipping date | declined date
1 11-01-11 19-01-11
2 13-01-11 14-01-11
3 15-01-11 16-01-11
4 15-01-11 15-01-11


The required output should be (sorted by most recent date date)

1 19-01-11 (shipped)
3 16-01-11 (shipped)
4 15-01-11 (shipped)
2 14-01-11 (declined)

One way I have though to do this is add another field in the table 'updated date' and then simply sort by this. I am just wondering if there is a more efficient way.

 

You don't need to add a field to the table, you just create it on the fly in the query:

SELECT TableName.id, IF([declined date]>[shipping date],[declined date],[shipping date]) AS UpdatedDate
FROM TableName
ORDER BY IF([declined date]>[shipping date],[declined date],[shipping date]) DESC;

PHP:

Be sure to replace TableName with the actual name of your table.

 

good one dude keep posting ..

 

writing a query is more efficient than creating a VIEW or JOINING TABLE.. querying is faster process..