Get the second highest sample date

Question

I am trying to get second highest sample date and get the following error, please let me know where am i doing it wrong

(SELECT* FROM resheader WHERE sampledate =
   (SELECT MAX(sampleDate) FROM resheader 
      WHERE sampleDate < (SELECT MAX(sampleDate) FROM resheader)
   )
) as 'Previous Sample'

Error

Msg 116, Level 16, State 1, Line 12 Only one expression can be specified in the select list when the subquery is not introduced with EXISTS.

Answer 1

In SQL Server 2012 you can use use the OFFSET FETCH clause to get the second row (after sorting by desired criteria):

SELECT * FROM resheader 
ORDER BY sampledate DESC
OFFSET 1 ROWS
FETCH NEXT 1 ROWS ONLY