order by multiple columns

Question

I need to order data by two columns, How do i do that?

This is my table:

Name   |  ImpFile   |  ImpTime
Sam      Imp01        2012-05-16 09:54:02.477
Ann      Imp01        2012-05-16 09:54:02.478
Mark     Imp01        2012-05-16 09:54:02.477
John     Import12     2012-05-16 09:55:37.384
Bart     Import12     2012-05-16 09:55:37.387
Sasha    Import12     2012-05-16 09:55:37.385

I need to sort this table by ImpTime and ImpName and it should look like this:

Name   |  ImpFile   |  ImpTime
         Import12    2012-05-16 09:55:37.387
Bart     Import12    2012-05-16 09:55:37.387
John     Import12    2012-05-16 09:55:37.384
Sasha    Import12    2012-05-16 09:55:37.385
         Imp01       2012-05-16 09:54:02.478
Ann      Imp01       2012-05-16 09:54:02.478
Mark     Imp01       2012-05-16 09:54:02.477
Sam      Imp01       2012-05-16 09:54:02.477

I am using this query, but it does not order the table by Name, in only orders by name when the time is the same value for multiple rows.

select Name, ImpFile, ImpTime
from people
union
select distinct '', ImpFile, max(ImpTime)
from people 
group by ImpFile
order by ImpTime desc, Name

This query gives me table like this:

Name   |  ImpFile   |  ImpTime
         Import12     2012-05-16 09:55:37.387
John     Import12     2012-05-16 09:55:37.384
Bart     Import12     2012-05-16 09:55:37.387
Sasha    Import12     2012-05-16 09:55:37.385
         Imp01        2012-05-16 09:54:02.478
Sam      Imp01        2012-05-16 09:54:02.477
Ann      Imp01        2012-05-16 09:54:02.478
Mark     Imp01        2012-05-16 09:54:02.477

Is there any way to order by those two column at the same time?

EDIT What happens when I use order by ImpFile DESC, ImpTime desc?
It gives me a result table like this:

Name   |  ImpFile   |  ImpTime
         Import12    2012-05-16 09:55:37.387
         Imp01       2012-05-16 09:54:02.478
Bart     Import12    2012-05-16 09:55:37.387
John     Import12    2012-05-16 09:55:37.384
Sasha    Import12    2012-05-16 09:55:37.385
Ann      Imp01       2012-05-16 09:54:02.478
Mark     Imp01       2012-05-16 09:54:02.477
Sam      Imp01       2012-05-16 09:54:02.477

Answer 1

Why can you just do it like this:

order by ImpFile DESC, ImpTime desc

No it do not result in what you are showing. It result in this:

        Import12    2012-05-16 09:55:37.387
Bart    Import12    2012-05-16 09:55:37.387
Sasha   Import12    2012-05-16 09:55:37.387
John    Import12    2012-05-16 09:55:37.383
        Imp01       2012-05-16 09:54:02.477
Ann     Imp01       2012-05-16 09:54:02.477
Mark    Imp01       2012-05-16 09:54:02.477
Sam     Imp01       2012-05-16 09:54:02.477

See here for an example

EDIT

I have a suggestion for you. Maybe something like this:

Test data

DECLARE @T TABLE(Name VARCHAR(100),ImpFile VARCHAR(100),ImpTime DATETIME)

INSERT INTO @T
    ([Name], [ImpFile], [ImpTime])
VALUES
    ('Sam', 'Imp01', '2012-05-16 09:54:02.477'),
    ('Ann', 'Imp01', '2012-05-16 09:54:02.478'),
    ('Mark', 'Imp01', '2012-05-16 09:54:02.477'),
    ('John', 'Import12', '2012-05-16 09:55:37.384'),
    ('Bart', 'Import12', '2012-05-16 09:55:37.387'),
    ('Sasha', 'Import12', '2012-05-16 09:55:37.385');

Query

;WITH CTE
AS
(   
    SELECT
        ROW_Number() OVER(PARTITION BY  t.[ImpFile] 
                     ORDER BY t.[ImpTime] DESC) AS RowNbr,
        '' AS Name,
        t.ImpFile,
        t.[ImpTime]
    FROM
        @T AS t
)
SELECT
    CTE.Name,
    CTE.ImpFile,
    CTE.[ImpTime],
    0 as SortOrder
FROM
    CTE
WHERE
    CTE.RowNbr=1
UNION ALL
SELECT
    t.Name,
    t.ImpFile,
    t.[ImpTime],
    1 as SortOrder
FROM
    @T AS t
ORDER BY
    ImpFile DESC,SortOrder, ImpTime desc