Brackets around column names?

[quinton nel]

Hi What does the brackets around column names mean?? SELECT [Data] FROM Table Please help

[Mike Dimmick]

The brackets are used to escape any syntax that might otherwise be confused with a SQL keyword, or to allow spaces to appear in a column name. In some contexts Data is a SQL keyword, but not actually in the column list of a SELECT statement. However, the brackets don't do any harm, so you can leave them in.

Stability. What an interesting concept. -- Chris Maunder

[albCode]

Signifies that the code elements between the square brackets can optionally appear in the SQL query, but are not required. Note that these brackets are not part of the code and must not appear in the SQL query.

[stevehnsn]

Actually the brackets can appear in the SQL query. They just signify some text string that is its own entity, such as a table name composed of two words with a white space delimiter. You could also use it in a query like this: SELECT columns FROM table WHERE column LIKE '%[%]%' Which essentially escapes the middle percent sign, treating it like a percent sign instead of a wildcard character. I hope this helps. Steve Hanson Tasen Software
New Hampshire (NH) Website Design and Software Development