Question

Constructing a SQL Server query for the first time today, and was surprised to see that this alias didn’t work:

SELECT
    INVOICE_INVOICE_NUMBER AS invno,
    INVOICE_INVOICE_SEQ AS lineno
FROM
    INVOICED

But this did:

SELECT
    INVOICE_INVOICE_NUMBER AS invoice,
    INVOICE_INVOICE_SEQ AS line
FROM
    INVOICED

Changing the alias name is no big deal – but it would be good to know why this particular alias didn’t work and how I can prevent or be aware of any future keywords to avoid.

Answer 1

LineNo is a reserved word. You can encase it in brackets to use it.

SELECT INVOICE_INVOICE_SEQ AS [lineno]

Reserved words