Not familiar

  • Hi,

    I had a question about this script.

    select a.name, a.length, b.name

    from syscolumns a, sysobjects b

    where a.id = b.id

    --and a.length > 128

    --and a.length < 250 order a.length select a.name, a.length, b.name
    from syscolumns a, sysobjects b
    where a.id = b.id
    and a.length > 128

    and a.length < 250
    --order a.length

    Mainly, what does the letter "a" or "b" mean in front of the columns?

  • to early for homework 😉

    it are table aliasses.

    a pointing to syscolumns

    b pointing to sysobjects

    They are only valid for that specific sql statement.

    Books online (bol) has more info. http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms187455%28SQL.90%29.aspx

    btw I always suggest to use these table aliasses because they will help in query analysis.

    Johan

    Learn to play, play to learn !

    Dont drive faster than your guardian angel can fly ...
    but keeping both feet on the ground wont get you anywhere :w00t:

    - How to post Performance Problems
    - How to post data/code to get the best help[/url]

    - How to prevent a sore throat after hours of presenting ppt

    press F1 for solution, press shift+F1 for urgent solution 😀

    Need a bit of Powershell? How about this

    Who am I ? Sometimes this is me but most of the time this is me

  • moyer.mail (8/26/2009)


    Hi,

    I had a question about this script.

    select a.name, a.length, b.name

    from syscolumns a, sysobjects b

    where a.id = b.id

    --and a.length > 128

    --and a.length 128

    and a.length < 250

    --order a.length

    Mainly, what does the letter "a" or "b" mean in front of the columns?

    The letters are referencing the alias used for the tables. A = syscolumns and B = sysobjects. It is often handy to use aliases as it cuts down on the required typing. Another, longer way of saying the same statements as #1 would be:

    select syscolumns.name, syscolumns.length, sysobjects.name

    from syscolumns, sysobjects

    where syscolumns.id = sysobjects.id

    Another point in this would be the use of non-ansi joins. Best practice would be to change the statement to use an inner join but this wasn't really your question.

  • You guys rock.

    Thank you for the quick reply.

    J

Viewing 4 posts - 1 through 3 (of 3 total)

You must be logged in to reply to this topic. Login to reply