Select rows grouped by a column having max aggregate - mysql

Question

Given the following data set, how would I find the email addresses that were references for the most ApplicationIDs that have an "Accepted" decision?
CREATE TABLE IF NOT EXISTS `EmailReferences` (
`ApplicationID` INT NOT NULL,
`Email` VARCHAR(45) NOT NULL,
PRIMARY KEY (`ApplicationID`, `Email`)
);
INSERT INTO EmailReferences (ApplicationID, Email)
VALUES
(1, 'ref10#test.org'), (1, 'ref11#test.org'), (1, 'ref12#test.org'),
(2, 'ref20#test.org'), (2, 'ref21#test.org'), (2, 'ref22#test.org'),
(3, 'ref11#test.org'), (3, 'ref31#test.org'), (3, 'ref32#test.org'),
(4, 'ref40#test.org'), (4, 'ref41#test.org'), (4, 'ref42#test.org'),
(5, 'ref50#test.org'), (5, 'ref51#test.org'), (5, 'ref52#test.org'),
(6, 'ref60#test.org'), (6, 'ref11#test.org'), (6, 'ref62#test.org'),
(7, 'ref70#test.org'), (7, 'ref71#test.org'), (7, 'ref72#test.org'),
(8, 'ref10#test.org'), (8, 'ref81#test.org'), (8, 'ref82#test.org')
;
CREATE TABLE IF NOT EXISTS `FinalDecision` (
`ApplicationID` INT NOT NULL,
`Decision` ENUM('Accepted', 'Denied') NOT NULL,
PRIMARY KEY (`ApplicationID`)
);
INSERT INTO FinalDecision (ApplicationID, Decision)
VALUES
(1, 'Accepted'), (2, 'Denied'),
(3, 'Accepted'), (4, 'Denied'),
(5, 'Denied'), (6, 'Denied'),
(7, 'Denied'), (8, 'Accepted')
;
Fiddle of same:http://sqlfiddle.com/#!9/03bcf2/1
Initially, I was using LIMIT 1 and ORDER BY CountDecision DESC, like so:
SELECT er.email, COUNT(fd.Decision) AS CountDecision
FROM EmailReferences AS er
JOIN FinalDecision AS fd ON er.ApplicationID = fd.ApplicationID
WHERE fd.Decision = 'Accepted'
GROUP BY er.email
ORDER BY CountDecision DESC
LIMIT 1
;
However, it occurred to me that I could have multiple email addresses that referred different "most accepted" decisions (i.e., a tie, so to speak), and those would be filtered out (is that the right phrasing?) with the LIMIT keyword.
I then tried a variation on the above query, replacing the ORDER BY and LIMIT lines with:
HAVING MAX(CountDecision)
But I realized that that's only half a statement: MAX(CountDecision) needs to be compared to something. I just don't know what.
Any pointers would be much appreciated. Thanks!
Note: this is for a homework assignment.
Update: To be clear, I'm trying to find value and count of Emails from EmailReferences. However, I only want rows that have FinalDecision.Decision = 'Accepted' (on matching ApplicantIDs). Based on my data, the result should be:
Email | CountDecision
---------------+--------------
ref10#test.org | 2
ref11#test.org | 2

Answer 1

For example...
SELECT a.*
FROM
( SELECT x.email
, COUNT(*) total
FROM emailreferences x
JOIN finaldecision y
ON y.applicationid = x.applicationid
WHERE y.decision = 'accepted'
GROUP
BY x.email
) a
JOIN
( SELECT COUNT(*) total
FROM emailreferences x
JOIN finaldecision y
ON y.applicationid = x.applicationid
WHERE y.decision = 'accepted'
GROUP
BY x.email
ORDER
BY total DESC
LIMIT 1
) b
ON b.total = a.total;

Answer 2

MySQL still lack window functions, but when version 8 is production ready, this becomes easier. So for fuure reference, or for those databases like Mariadb that already have window functions:
CREATE TABLE IF NOT EXISTS `EmailReferences` (
`ApplicationID` INT NOT NULL,
`Email` VARCHAR(45) NOT NULL,
PRIMARY KEY (`ApplicationID`, `Email`)
);
INSERT INTO EmailReferences (ApplicationID, Email)
VALUES
(1, 'ref10#test.org'), (1, 'ref11#test.org'), (1, 'ref12#test.org'),
(2, 'ref20#test.org'), (2, 'ref21#test.org'), (2, 'ref22#test.org'),
(3, 'ref30#test.org'), (3, 'ref31#test.org'), (3, 'ref32#test.org'),
(4, 'ref40#test.org'), (4, 'ref41#test.org'), (4, 'ref42#test.org'),
(5, 'ref50#test.org'), (5, 'ref51#test.org'), (5, 'ref52#test.org'),
(6, 'ref60#test.org'), (6, 'ref11#test.org'), (6, 'ref62#test.org'),
(7, 'ref70#test.org'), (7, 'ref71#test.org'), (7, 'ref72#test.org'),
(8, 'ref10#test.org'), (8, 'ref81#test.org'), (8, 'ref82#test.org')
;
CREATE TABLE IF NOT EXISTS `FinalDecision` (
`ApplicationID` INT NOT NULL,
`Decision` ENUM('Accepted', 'Denied') NOT NULL,
PRIMARY KEY (`ApplicationID`)
);
INSERT INTO FinalDecision (ApplicationID, Decision)
VALUES
(1, 'Accepted'), (2, 'Denied'),
(3, 'Accepted'), (4, 'Denied'),
(5, 'Denied'), (6, 'Denied'),
(7, 'Denied'), (8, 'Accepted')
;
select email, CountDecision
from (
SELECT er.email, COUNT(fd.Decision) AS CountDecision
, max(COUNT(fd.Decision)) over() maxCountDecision
FROM EmailReferences AS er
JOIN FinalDecision AS fd ON er.ApplicationID = fd.ApplicationID
WHERE fd.Decision = 'Accepted'
GROUP BY er.email
) d
where CountDecision = maxCountDecision
email | CountDecision
:------------- | ------------:
ref10#test.org | 2
dbfiddle here