## Selecting, Arranging, and Renaming Columns

You can select specific columns in the query and arrange and rename these columns in the results table.

### Prerequisites

You require the demo data for the SQL Tutorial.

Start the query tool SQL Studio as database administrator MONA with password RED and log on to the demo database instance DEMODB.

### Selecting Specific Columns

To select columns from a table, specify the desired column name after the keyword SELECT. Use commas to separate the column names in this list. Blank characters are optional.

SELECT firstname, name
FROM hotel.customer

Displaying the first and last names of all customers

Result

FIRSTNAME | NAME
Jenny | Porter
Peter | Brown
? | Datasoft
Rose | Brian
Mary | Griffith
Martin | Randolph
Sally | Smith
Mike | Jackson
Rita | Doe
George | Howe
Frank | Miller
Susan | Baker
Joseph | Peters
? | TOOLware
Antony | Jankins

### Selecting All Columns

Instead of the list of column names, you can also enter *.

SELECT *
FROM hotel.customer

The system displays the contents of the entire customer table. The columns are displayed in the order you defined when you created the table.

### Arranging Columns

You can arrange the columns to be displayed in any order you desire. To do so, enter the column names in the desired order after the keyword SELECT.

SELECT name, firstname
FROM hotel.customer

Displaying the last and first names of all customers

Result

NAME | FIRSTNAME
Porter | Jenny
Brown | Peter
Datasoft | ?
Brian | Rose
Griffith | Mary
Randolph | Martin
Smith | Sally
Jackson | Mike
Doe | Rita
Howe | George
Miller | Frank
Baker | Susan
Peters | Joseph
TOOLware | ?
Jankins | Antony

### Renaming Columns

You can rename the columns to be displayed.

SELECT zip, name city_name
FROM hotel.city
WHERE state = 'NY'

Displaying the zip code and city/place name of all cities/places in the state of NY

Result

ZIP | CITY_NAME
10019 | New York
10580 | New York
11788 | Long Island
12203 | Albany

See also:

SQL Reference Manual, QUERY Expression (query_expression), Selected Column (select_column), Table Expression (table_expression)

More examples for Data Query