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SQL Duplicate Record Cleanup
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SQL Duplicate Record Cleanup

MediumSQL · PostgreSQL

Problem

Write a SQL query to identify and eliminate duplicate records within a highly transactional database table.

Treat rows with the same account, event details, amount, reference, and source as duplicates. Retain the row with the lowest transaction_id and remove later copies. The query should return the records that it removed.

Output

  1. One row per deleted duplicate
  2. Columns: deleted_transaction_id, account_id, event_type, event_timestamp, amount, external_reference, and source_system
  3. Include only removed records; no ordering is required

Schema

transaction_events
ColumnTypeDescription
transaction_idPKINTUnique transaction record identifier
account_idINTCustomer account identifier
event_typeVARCHAR(30)Transaction event classification
event_timestampTIMESTAMPTimestamp when the transaction event occurred
amountNUMERIC(12,2)Transaction amount
external_referenceVARCHAR(60)Reference supplied by the originating system
source_systemVARCHAR(40)System that generated the transaction
Tablestransaction_events
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