docs-v2/content/shared/influxdb-v2/query-data/influxql/explore-data/order-by.md

Use the ORDER BY clause to sort data.

• Syntax
• Examples

ORDER BY time DESC

By default, InfluxDB returns results in ascending time order; the first point returned has the oldest timestamp and the last point returned has the most recent timestamp. ORDER BY time DESC reverses that order such that InfluxDB returns the points with the most recent timestamps first.

Syntax

SELECT_clause FROM_clause [WHERE_clause] [GROUP_BY_clause] ORDER BY time DESC

If the query includes a GROUP BY clause, ORDER by time DESC must appear after the GROUP BY clause. If the query includes a WHERE clause and no GROUP BY clause, ORDER by time DESC must appear after the WHERE clause.

Examples

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{{% expand "Return the newest points first" %}}

SELECT "water_level" FROM "h2o_feet" WHERE "location" = 'santa_monica' ORDER BY time DESC

Output: {{% influxql/table-meta %}} Name: h2o_feet {{% /influxql/table-meta %}}

time	water_level
2019-09-17T21:42:00Z	4.9380000000
2019-09-17T21:36:00Z	5.0660000000
2019-09-17T21:30:00Z	5.0100000000
2019-09-17T21:24:00Z	5.0130000000
2019-09-17T21:18:00Z	5.0720000000

The query returns the points with the most recent timestamps from the h2o_feet measurement first. Without ORDER by time DESC, the query would return the following output:

Output: {{% influxql/table-meta %}} Name: h2o_feet {{% /influxql/table-meta %}}

time	water_level
2019-08-17T00:00:00Z	2.0640000000
2019-08-17T00:06:00Z	2.1160000000
2019-08-17T00:12:00Z	2.0280000000
2019-08-17T00:18:00Z	2.1260000000

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{{% expand "Return the newest points first and include a GROUP BY time() clause" %}}

SELECT MEAN("water_level") FROM "h2o_feet" WHERE time >= '2019-08-18T00:00:00Z' AND time <= '2019-08-18T00:42:00Z' GROUP BY time(12m) ORDER BY time DESC

Output: {{% influxql/table-meta %}} Name: h2o_feet {{% /influxql/table-meta %}}

time	mean
2019-08-18T00:36:00Z	4.9712860355
2019-08-18T00:24:00Z	5.1682500000
2019-08-18T00:12:00Z	5.3042500000
2019-08-18T00:00:00Z	5.4135000000

The query uses the InfluxQL MEAN() function and a time interval in the GROUP BY clause to calculate the average water_level for each 12-minute interval in the queried time range. ORDER BY time DESC returns the most recent 12-minute time intervals first.

Without ORDER BY time DESC, the query would return the following output:

Output: {{% influxql/table-meta %}} Name: h2o_feet {{% /influxql/table-meta %}}

time	mean
2019-08-18T00:00:00Z	5.4135000000
2019-08-18T00:12:00Z	5.3042500000
2019-08-18T00:24:00Z	5.1682500000
2019-08-18T00:36:00Z	4.9712860355

{{% /expand %}}

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