SQLite - Count Distinct with three column groupings ignores last grouping - sqlite

Question

I'm working on a database about directors from US companies. One specific table I've created from a query contains all directors who were in a company 5 years before it declared bankruptcy (query below):
CREATE TABLE IF NOT EXISTS y_query AS
SELECT
A.dir_id, A.linked_dir_ir, A.bankrupt_co_id, A.co_name, A.event_date,
B.conn_co_id, B.conn_co_name, B.conn_co_type, B.conn_co_start_date, B.conn_co_end_date,
(CASE WHEN conn_co_start_date >= event_date THEN 1 ELSE 0 END) AS dir_hired
FROM (
SELECT
C.dir_id, C.linked_dir_ir, C.conn_co_id as bankrupt_co_id, C.overlap_start_date, C.overlap_end_date, C.conn_co_type,
D.co_name, D.filing_date, D.event_date
FROM director_network C
INNER JOIN company_bankruptcy D
ON C.conn_co_id = D.co_id
WHERE (
(C.overlap_end_date >= DATE(D.event_date, '-5 years')) AND
(C.overlap_end_date <= D.event_date))
) A
LEFT OUTER JOIN company_network B
ON A.dir_id = B.dir_id;
(linked_dir_ir should read linked_dir_id but I'm on a slow computer and it would take ~1hr to change the column name)
So, that table is fine, the query takes a while to run but it works as intended. But now I need to count the number of directors (linked_dir_ir) a given director (dir_id) was associated (ie, each row is a connection) for each bankrupt company (bankrupt_co_id) the director was in, and each connected company (conn_co_id). There can be many lines connecting a pair of directors because a new entry is made if any of them receives a promotion and so on.
(A few rows of y_query table: y_query)
So, I thought this query would work, but I'm running into problems:
SELECT dir_id, bankrupt_co_id, conn_co_id, COUNT(DISTINCT linked_dir_ir) as conn_dirs
FROM y_query
WHERE bankrupt_co_id != conn_co_id
GROUP BY dir_id, bankrupt_co_id, conn_co_id;
I am not sure why but this query disregards the last group (conn_co_id) and the result is the same for any dir_id and bankrupt_co_id, where it should vary also based on what conn_co_id is. A sample of the result (it only changes when dir_id or bankrupt_co_id changes, as depicted):
resulting query
The result is the same as if I'd only grouped with dir_id and bankrupt_co_id, when it should be different for each conn_co_id. I've done a lot of research into GROUP BY statements and how it can be tricky, but I haven't been able to crack this one. I'd greatly appreciate any help on this!

Answer 1

Its hard to reproduce your result. But your query with multiple groupings seems to be fine. See example below:
CREATE TABLE test (dir_id INTEGER, bankrupt_co_id INTEGER, conn_co_id INTEGER, linked_dir_id INTEGER);
with some dummy data:
select * from test;
dir_id bankrupt_co_id conn_co_id linked_dir_id
---------- -------------- ---------- -------------
1 1 1 1
1 1 1 2
1 1 1 4
1 1 1 5
1 1 1 6
1 1 1 7
1 1 2 1
1 1 2 2
1 1 2 3
1 2 2 1
3 3 2 1
3 1 2 1
3 2 2 1
3 2 2 4
1 1 1 3
1 1 4 4
The query including your conn_co_id results in:
SELECT dir_id, bankrupt_co_id, conn_co_id, COUNT(DISTINCT linked_dir_id) as conn_dirs FROM test WHERE bankrupt_co_id!=conn_co_id GROUP BY dir_id, bankrupt_co_id, conn_co_id;
dir_id bankrupt_co_id conn_co_id conn_dirs
---------- -------------- ---------- ----------
1 1 2 3
1 1 4 1
3 1 2 1
3 3 2 1
whereas without the top two results are combined:
SELECT dir_id, bankrupt_co_id, conn_co_id, COUNT(DISTINCT linked_dir_id) as conn_dirs FROM test WHERE bankrupt_co_id!=conn_co_id GROUP BY dir_id, bankrupt_co_id;
dir_id bankrupt_co_id conn_co_id conn_dirs
---------- -------------- ---------- ----------
1 1 4 4
3 1 2 1
3 3 2 1