SQL get the last date time record

Question

I'm trying to get the last datetime record from a table that happens to store multiple status. My table looks like so:

+---------+------------------------+-------+
|filename |Dates                   |Status |
+---------+------------------------+-------+
|abc.txt  |2012-02-14 12:04:45.397 |Open   |
|abc.txt  |2012-02-14 12:14:20.997 |Closed |
|abc.txt  |2013-02-14 12:20:59.407 |Open   |
|dfg.txt  |2012-02-14 12:14:20.997 |Closed |
|dfg.txt  |2013-02-14 12:20:59.407 |Open   |
+---------+------------------------+-------+

The results should be

+---------+------------------------+-------+
|filename |Dates                   |Status |
+---------+------------------------+-------+
|abc.txt  |2013-02-14 12:20:59.407 |Open   |
|dfg.txt  |2013-02-14 12:20:59.407 |Open   |
+---------+------------------------+-------+

Answer 1

If you want one row for each filename, reflecting a specific states and listing the most recent date then this is your friend:

select filename ,
       status   ,
       max_date = max( dates )
from some_table t
group by filename , status
having status = '<your-desired-status-here>'

Easy!