Deleting Duplicate Rows in Oracle

Deleting duplicate rows from tables is one of the common task oracle developers
come across. The data might get duplicated because of missing primary/unique key on
the table or batch file getting loaded multiple times. Here I have tried to summarize
different ways of deleting this duplicated data. Please note that this is not an extensive
list of all available methods but the ones I was able to figure out. This should serve as
a handy reference while at work.
CREATE TABLE tbl_test(
SER_NO NUMBER,
FST_NM VARCHAR2(30),
DEPTID NUMBER,
CMNT
VARCHAR2(30));
INSERT
INSERT
INSERT
INSERT
INSERT
INSERT

INTO
INTO
INTO
INTO
INTO
INTO

tbl_test
tbl_test
tbl_test
tbl_test
tbl_test
tbl_test

VALUES(1,
VALUES(2,
VALUES(1,
VALUES(1,
VALUES(3,
VALUES(2,

'aaaaa', 2004, 'xxx');

'bbbbb', 2005, 'yyy');
'aaaaa', 2004, 'xxx');
'aaaaa', 2004, 'xxx');
'ccccc', 2005, 'zzz');
'bbbbb', 2005, 'yyy');

1. Using MIN(rowid) : The most common method of removing duplicate rows.

DELETE FROM tbl_test
WHERE ROWID NOT IN (SELECT
MIN (ROWID)
FROM tbl_test
GROUP BY ser_no, fst_nm, deptid, cmnt);

Comment: This will take hours & hours if the table is large (records in million).
2. Using MIN(rowid) & Join: More or less the same as first one
DELETE FROM tbl_test t
WHERE t.ROWID NOT IN (SELECT MIN (b.ROWID)
FROM tbl_test b
WHERE b.ser_no = t.ser_no
AND b.fst_nm = t.fst_nm
AND b.deptid = t.deptid
AND b.cmnt
= t.cmnt);

3. Using Subquery: This is an interesting one

DELETE FROM tbl_test
WHERE ser_no IN (SELECT ser_no FROM tbl_test GROUP BY ser_no, fst_nm,
deptid, cmnt HAVING COUNT (*) > 1)
AND fst_nm IN (SELECT fst_nm FROM tbl_test GROUP BY ser_no, fst_nm,
deptid, cmnt HAVING COUNT (*) > 1)
AND deptid IN (SELECT deptid FROM tbl_test GROUP BY ser_no, fst_nm,
deptid, cmnt HAVING COUNT (*) > 1)
AND cmnt
IN (SELECT cmnt
FROM tbl_test GROUP BY ser_no, fst_nm,
deptid, cmnt HAVING COUNT (*) > 1)
AND ROWID NOT IN (SELECT
MIN (ROWID)

FROM tbl_test
GROUP BY ser_no, fst_nm, deptid, cmnt
HAVING COUNT (*) > 1)

Comment: A complicated way of performing the same task. Not efficient.

4. Using Nested Subqueries:
DELETE FROM tbl_test a
WHERE (a.ser_no, a.fst_nm, a.deptid, a.cmnt) IN (SELECT b.ser_no, b.fst_nm,
b.deptid, b.cmnt
FROM tbl_test b
WHERE a.ser_no = b.ser_no
AND a.fst_nm = b.fst_nm
AND a.deptid = b.deptid
AND a.cmnt
= b.cmnt
AND a.ROWID > b.ROWID);

Comment: Will work but for large tables, this is not efficient.
5. Using Analytic Fucntions:
DELETE FROM tbl_test
WHERE ROWID IN (
SELECT rid
FROM (SELECT ROWID rid,
ROW_NUMBER () OVER (PARTITION BY ser_no, fst_nm,
deptid, cmnt ORDER BY ROWID) rn
FROM tbl_test)
WHERE rn <> 1);

Comments: This is by far one of the best solutions if the table is really really large.
Using the invaluable power of Analytics.
6. CREATE-DROP-RENAME: This one is a more appropriate solution in terms of
resource usage in the sense that if we have a really large table, then with delete option
we are generating a huge amount of UNDO information.(if we want to rollback for
any reason). Even worst, the rollback segment may not be large enough to hold your
UNDO information and give error. CTAS comes handy in this case.
Step 1.
CREATE TABLE tbl_test1 NOLOGGING
AS
SELECT tbl_test .*
FROM tbl_test tbl_test
WHERE ROWID IN (SELECT rid
FROM (SELECT ROWID rid, ROW_NUMBER() OVER (PARTITION BY
ser_no, fst_nm, deptid, cmnt ORDER BY ROWID) rn
FROM tbl_test)
WHERE rn=1);

Step 2.
DROP TABLE tbl_test; --drop the original table with lots of duplicate

Step 3.
RENAME tbl_test1 TO tbl_test; -- your original table without duplicates.

In case you have some other method of deleting duplicate data, please share it.