MySQL, sorting before a group by

Question

If I issue a query like this:

select c1, c2, c3
from table
group by c1;

i get distinct results for c1, but how do i sort it (e.g. c2 descending) before the group by?

Answer 1

select c1, c2, c3 
from (select c1, c2, c3 from table order by c2 desc) t 
group by c1;

Answer 2

Your question is unclear, but if you need got higher value of c2 for each c1 you may use Max

select c1, Max(c2), Max(c3)
from table
group by c1

Answer 3

Your query won't work as is. If I understand what you want try something closer to this:

select c1,c2,c3 from table group by c1,c2,c3 order by c1,c2 desc