CODEWITHSUNDEEP
sqlsql-serversyntaxsql-server-2012
LCIII
LCIII

Reputation: 3636

What SQL Server syntax is this where the NULL is behind the column name?

In a SELECT statement like this...

SELECT DISTINCT NULL[Column1], NULL[Column2], Column2, etc...
FROM Table

What exactly are the NULL statements doing before the column names? This runs fine.

Upvotes: 0

Views: 60

Answers (1)

Gordon Linoff
Gordon Linoff

Reputation: 1269923

The NULL is the value. The column name is the name of the column.

I would write this as:

select distinct null as column1, . . ..

The as makes it more clear that name is being given the value.

In SQL Server, you can also use:

select distinct column1 = null, . . .

I don't like this shorthand (because it is not supported by other databases and it looks too much like variable assignment). However, it is popular among some people.

Upvotes: 7

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