mySQL query help

[REY619]

i have a table with fields name, time, and userid. I want to select name and time, such that no name is duplicated i.e. no same names should be returned and the result should be sorted by time(DESC). I cant make a query for this. Can someone help.
I tried this query but it doesnt work::

SELECT DISTINCT(name), time FROM table_name WHERE visitorid='1' ORDER BY time DESC;

but it gives error.
Thanx.

[The Unknown]

^^ Explain properly.

[mod-the-pc]

Originally Posted by REY619

i have a table with fields name, time, and userid. I want to select name and time, such that no name is duplicated i.e. no same names should be returned and the result should be sorted by time(DESC). I cant make a query for this. Can someone help.
I tried this query but it doesnt work::

SELECT DISTINCT(name), time FROM table_name WHERE visitorid='1' ORDER BY time DESC;

but it gives error.
Thanx.

@REY619 a DISTINCT clause selects the distinct combinations of the fields in the SELECT clause (i.e. name & time in your query) and NOT just the distinct values of a single field. I guess that your table has more than one time associated with a name i.e. more than one record for the same name. You can just choose the max (or min) of time to ensure that the name is not repeated

SELECT 
  name, 
  max(time) as MAX_TIME 
FROM 
  table_name 
WHERE 
  visitorid='1' 
GROUP BY 
  name 
ORDER BY 
  MAX_TIME DESC;

[REY619]

Thanx mod-the-pc will try that
__________
Thanx its working!!!