11/22/2017 Is it a String Literal or an Alias?

Jeff's SQL Server Blog

Random Thoughts & Cartesian Products with Microsoft SQL Server

<< Working with Date and/or Time values in SQL Server: Don't Format, Don't Convert -- just use
DATETIME | Home | SQL Server 2008 - Enhancements in Date and Time Data Types (link) >>

Is it a String Literal or an Alias?

Every now and then I see T-SQL code written like this:

select somecolumn as 'columnname'

from sometable

Notice that 'columnname', despite its appearance, is not a string literal or a string
expression, it is the alias that we are assigning to the column somecolumn. Putting the
name of an alias in single quotes in T-SQL is completely valid syntax, and it will work
fine, but I feel that it is a really bad practice. It makes the distinction between string
literals and object names very blurry, and it can lead to confusion when examining and
maintaining your code.

For example, to me this is difficult to quickly look at and digest:

select 'literal' as 'columnname'

columnname
----------
literal

(1 row(s) affected)

It just makes your code harder to read, especially if syntax highlighting is used, since
we no longer know at a glance what is a string literal and what is not. Of course, it gets
even more difficult when you are dealing with long, complicated SQL statements.

It gets even worse when you consider that using "as" is optional when assigning an
alias. For example, this is perfectly legal as well:

select 'literal' 'columnname'

columnname
----------
literal

(1 row(s) affected)

I don't know about you, but I would hate to inherit a database full of code like that!

http://weblogs.sqlteam.com/jeffs/archive/2007/08/30/string-literal-alias-sql-server.aspx 1/4
11/22/2017 Is it a String Literal or an Alias?

Allowing the string literal delimiter to be used also implies to beginners that variables or
other expressions can be used in place of column aliases, since they look like string
expressions. Perhaps that is why now and then we see code like this:

select 'literal' as 'columnname' + @variable

That would of course make the misguided "generate dynamic column names" people
very happy, but thankfully is not allowed.

Interestingly, while you can write column name aliases with the single quotes, you
cannot alias tables or derived tables that way:

select * from
(
select 'jeff' as colname
) as 'test'

Server: Msg 170, Level 15, State 1, Line 4

Line 4: Incorrect syntax near 'test'.

Which is certainly a good thing, but now perhaps a little inconsistent.

My advice? Don't delimit column aliases the same way you delimit string literals --
either do not delimit them at all, or use square brackets like [this]. This will help to
distinguish your data from your code, and make things a little easier to maintain in the
long run.

see also:

Some SELECTs will never return 0 rows -- regardless of the criteria

By The Way ... DISTINCT is not a function ...
A handy but little-known SQL function: NULLIF()
Is it a String Literal or an Alias?
Passing an Array or Table Parameter to a Stored Procedure
SELECT * FROM TABLE -- except for these columns
In SQL, it's a Case Expression, *not* a Case Statement
Returning Random Numbers in a SELECT statement

Related Links

By The Way ... DISTINCT is not a function ... (10/12/2007)

In SQL, it's a Case Expression, *not* a Case Statement (5/3/2007)
A handy but little-known SQL function: NULLIF() (9/27/2007)
Returning Random Numbers in a SELECT statement (11/22/2004)
Some Simple SQL Rules to Live By (3/14/2006)

Print | posted on Thursday, August 30, 2007 11:36 AM | Filed Under [ Miscellaneous T-SQL ]

http://weblogs.sqlteam.com/jeffs/archive/2007/08/30/string-literal-alias-sql-server.aspx 2/4
11/22/2017 Is it a String Literal or an Alias?

Feedback

# re: String Literals versus Alias Names

+1 on that one!

8/30/2007 12:54 PM | Mladen

# re: Is it a String Literal or an Alias?

What's your opinion on:

SELECT [thisIsMyColumnName] = someColumn

FROM someTable

10/12/2007 5:48 AM | georgev

# re: Is it a String Literal or an Alias?

georgev -- I personally don't use that, not sure exactly why, maybe just out of
habit. I think that it's fine as long as you are consistent. It can make your code
more readable in that you can line up your column names on the left ...

Is one style more ANSI-compliant than the other?

10/12/2007 8:48 AM | Jeff

# re: Is it a String Literal or an Alias?

I need to do the reverse.

I need to specify a string literal in a where clause, but it is also the name of
one of the fields.

How do I specify the string literal so that it is not confused with the field of the
same name?

select * from valid_codes vc_cs

where
vc_cs.vc_domain = 'purchasestatus'

http://weblogs.sqlteam.com/jeffs/archive/2007/08/30/string-literal-alias-sql-server.aspx 3/4
11/22/2017 Is it a String Literal or an Alias?

AND
vc_cs.vc_code = ''

Here though, the table valid_codes also has a field called [purchasestatus]
which is making the search fail. The field name cannot be changed nor the
domain field text.

How do I specify 'purchasestatus' as a string literal.

I have tried double quotes also but then it fails with Invalid column name.

4/29/2008 11:34 AM | ow

Comments have been closed on this topic.

Copyright © Jeff Smith

http://weblogs.sqlteam.com/jeffs/archive/2007/08/30/string-literal-alias-sql-server.aspx 4/4