Select first N messages each user receives - mysql

Question

I have a table that stores messages sent to users, the layout is as follows
id (auto-incrementing) | message_id | user_id | datetime_sent
I'm trying to find the first N message_id's that each user has received, but am completely stuck. I can do it easily on a per-user basis (when defining the user ID in the query), but not for all users.
Things to note:
Many users can get the same message_id
Message ID's aren't sent sequentially (i.e. we can send message 400 before message 200)
This is a read only mySQL database
EDIT: On second thought I removed this bit but have added it back in since someone was kind enough to work on it
The end goal is to see what % of users opened one of the first N messages they received.
That table of opens looks like this:
user_id | message_id | datetime_opened

Answer 1

This is an untested answer to the original question (with 2 tables and condition on first 5):
SELECT DISTINCT user_id
FROM (
SELECT om.user_id,
om.message_id,
count(DISTINCT sm2.message_id) messages_before
FROM opened_messages om
INNER JOIN sent_messages sm
ON om.user_id = sm.user_id
AND om.message_id = sm.message_id
LEFT JOIN sent_messages sm2
ON om.user_id = sm2.user_id
AND sm2.datetime_sent < sm.datetime_sent
GROUP BY om.user_id,
om.message_id
HAVING messages_before < 5
) AS base
The subquery joins in sm2 to count the number of preceding messages that were sent to the same user, and then the having clause makes sure that there are fewer than 5 earlier messages sent. As for the same user there might be multiple messages (up to 5) with that condition, the outer query only lists the unique users that comply to the condition.

Answer 2

To get the first N (here 2) messages, try
SELECT
user_id
, message_id
FROM (
SELECT
user_id
, message_id
, id
, (CASE WHEN #user_id != user_id THEN #rank := 1 ELSE #rank := #rank + 1 END) AS rank,
(CASE WHEN #user_id != user_id THEN #user_id := user_id ELSE #user_id END) AS _
FROM (SELECT * FROM MessageSent ORDER BY user_id, id) T
JOIN (SELECT #cnt := 0) c
JOIN (SELECT #user_id := 0) u
) R
WHERE rank < 3
ORDER BY user_id, id
;
which uses a RANK substitute, derived from #Seaux response to Does mysql have the equivalent of Oracle's “analytic functions”?
To extend this to your original question, just add the appropriate calculation:
SELECT
COUNT(DISTINCT MO.user_id) * 100 /
(SELECT COUNT(DISTINCT user_id)
FROM (
SELECT
user_id
, message_id
, id
, (CASE WHEN #user_id != user_id THEN #rank := 1 ELSE #rank := #rank + 1 END) AS rank,
(CASE WHEN #user_id != user_id THEN #user_id := user_id ELSE #user_id END) AS _
FROM (SELECT * FROM MessageSent ORDER BY user_id, id) T
JOIN (SELECT #cnt := 0) c
JOIN (SELECT #user_id := 0) u
) R2
WHERE rank < 3
) AS percentage_who_read_one_of_the_first_messages
FROM MessageOpened MO
JOIN
(SELECT
user_id
, message_id
FROM (
SELECT
user_id
, message_id
, id
, (CASE WHEN #user_id != user_id THEN #rank := 1 ELSE #rank := #rank + 1 END) AS rank,
(CASE WHEN #user_id != user_id THEN #user_id := user_id ELSE #user_id END) AS _
FROM (SELECT * FROM MessageSent ORDER BY user_id, id) T
JOIN (SELECT #cnt := 0) c
JOIN (SELECT #user_id := 0) u
) R
WHERE rank < 3) MR
ON MO.user_id = MR.user_id
AND MO.message_id = MR.message_id
;
With no CTEs in MySQL, and being in a read-only database - I see no way around having the above query twice in the statement.
See it in action: SQL Fiddle.
Please comment if and as this requires adjustment / further detail.