Ouder-ID op het hoogste niveau vinden

Nog een kortere CTE:

WITH cte AS(
      SELECT *, id AS topparent 
      FROM t 
      WHERE parentid IS NULL
  UNION ALL
      SELECT t.*, c.topparent 
      FROM t JOIN cte c ON c.id = t.parentid
      WHERE t.id <> t.parentid
)
SELECT * FROM cte

Hier getest:SQL Fiddle

BEWERKEN :Deze verdomde SQLfiddle reageert weer niet. Test de DDL-code hieronder

CREATE  table t (id INT, parentid INT);
INSERT INTO T VALUES (1  , NULL );
INSERT INTO T VALUES (2  , 1    );           
INSERT INTO T VALUES (3  , 2    );          
INSERT INTO T VALUES (9  , NULL );          
INSERT INTO T VALUES (5  , 9    );          
INSERT INTO T VALUES (6  , 5    );          
INSERT INTO T VALUES (25 , NULL );          
INSERT INTO T VALUES (30 , 25   );