Hi, I need to query a database for a record with the "best" value in a one-character field. The field is named "state" and I need a record with a state of 'a', 'b', or 'c'. There may be more than one matching record but I want the "best" one where "best" is defined as state 'a', or if there are no 'a' records, state 'b', etc. Here is my query so far: SELECT foo, bar, baz, FROM my_table WHERE state ~ '[abc]' ORDER BY state ASC LIMIT 1. This works as expected. My problem is that I am relying on the collating sequence of the letters a-z and the desirability of states may not always be in this order. Is there a better way to do the "ORDER BY" or some other way to accomplish this? I know I could do three queries and then compare the results but I was hoping to do this all within the single query. Note that I only have limited ability to change the structure of the database. I probably could if there was no other way but it would be very disruptive if I did so. Bob
