Select most recent row based on distinct combination of two columns - mysql

Question

I'm writing a cronjob that runs analysis on a flags table in my database, structured as such:
| id | item | def | time_flagged | time_resolved | status |
+----+------+-----+--------------+---------------+---------+
| 1 | 1 | foo | 1519338608 | 1519620669 | MISSED |
| 2 | 1 | bar | 1519338608 | (NULL) | OPEN |
| 3 | 2 | bar | 1519338608 | 1519620669 | IGNORED |
| 4 | 1 | foo | 1519620700 | (NULL) | OPEN |
For each distinct def, for each unique price, I want to get the "latest" row (IFNULL(`time_resolved`, `time_flagged`) AS `time`). If no such row exists for a given def-item combination, that's okay; I just don't want any duplicates for a given def-item combination.
For the above data set, I would like to select:
| def | item | time | status |
+-----+------+------------+---------+
| foo | 1 | 1519620700 | OPEN |
| bar | 1 | 1519338608 | OPEN |
| bar | 2 | 1519620669 | IGNORED |
Row 1 is not included because it's "overridden" by row 4, as both rows have the same def-item combination, and the latter has a more recent time.
The data set will have a few dozen distinct defs, a few hundred distinct items, and a very large number of flags that will only increase over time.
How can I go about doing this? I see the greatest-n-per-group tag is rife with similar questions but I don't see any that involve my specific circumstance of needed "nested grouping" across two columns.

Answer 1

You could try:
select distinct def, item, IFNULL(time_resolved, time_flagged) AS time, status from flags A where IFNULL(time_resolved, time_flagged) = (select MAX(IFNULL(time_resolved, time_flagged)) from flags B where A.item = B.item and A.def = B.def )
I know it's not the best approach but it might work for you

Answer 2

Do you mean 'for each unique Def and each unique Item'? If so, a group by of multiple columns seems like it would work (shown as a temp table t) joined back to the original table to grab the rest of the data:
select
table.def,
table.item,
table.time,
status
from
table
join (select
def,
item,
max(time) time
from table
group by def, item) t
on
table.def=t.def and
table.item=t.item and
table.time=t.time

Answer 3

Depending on your version of mySQL, you can use a window function:
SELECT def, item, time, status
FROM (
SELECT
def,
item,
time,
status,
RANK() OVER(PARTITION BY def, item ORDER BY COALESCE(time_resolved, time_flagged) DESC) MyRank -- Rank each (def, item) combination by "time"
FROM MyTable
) src
WHERE MyRank = 1 -- Only return top-ranked (i.e. most recent) rows per (def, item) grouping
If you can have a (def, item) combo with the same "time" value, then change RANK() to ROW_NUMBER. This will guarantee you only get one row per grouping.

Answer 4

select table.def, table.item, a.time, table.status
from table
join (select
def, item, MAX(COALESCE(time_r, time_f)) as time
from temp
group by def, item) a
on temp.def = a.def and
temp.item = a.item and
COALESCE(temp.time_r, temp.time_f) = a.time