Question

I’m trying to create an index on a view and it keeps failing, I’m pretty sure its b/c I’m using an alias for the column. Not sure how or if I can do it this way. Below is a simplified scenario.

CREATE VIEW v_contracts WITH SCHEMABINDING
AS
SELECT 
    t1.contractid as 'Contract.ContractID'
    t2.name as 'Customer.Name'
    FROM contract t1
    JOIN customer t2
    ON t1.contractid = t2.contractid
GO

CREATE UNIQUE CLUSTERED INDEX v_contracts_idx ON v_contracts(t1.contractid)
GO
---------------------------
Incorrect syntax near '.'.

CREATE UNIQUE CLUSTERED INDEX v_contracts_idx ON v_contracts(contractid)
GO
---------------------------
Column name 'contractid' does not exist in the target table or view.

CREATE UNIQUE CLUSTERED INDEX v_contracts_idx ON v_contracts(Contract.ContractID)
GO
---------------------------
Incorrect syntax near '.'.

Anyone know how to create an indexed view using aliased columns please let me know.

Answer 1

try using brackets around the column name because the name is not a valid column name

CREATE UNIQUE CLUSTERED INDEX v_contracts_idx 
ON v_contracts([Contract.ContractID])
GO

Also indexed views require 5 or so SET options to be on, more info here: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms191432.aspx