Question

I’ve got some sql joining a few tables together

SELECT contact.contact_id,
        form1.*,
        form2.*
FROM contact
INNER JOIN form1
ON contact.contact_id = form1.contact_id
INNER JOIN form2
ON contact_contact_id = form2.contact_id

I want to avoid repeating the ‘contact_id’ column in my output without having to write every field name in the table (ie I want to keep using form1.* and form2.* as this will make the report much easier to maintain – fields are liable to change). Is this possible? I’m using Postgres.

Answer 1

Only way is “Dont use *”. You need to explicitely type out the required column. This is a good practice when you use JOINs. If the columns are too many, make use of the result

select column_name from information_schema.columns
where table_name='your table' and column_name<>'contact_id'