Can I logically reorder columns in a table?

fastcall_328 0
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If I'm adding a column to a table in Microsoft SQL Server, can I control where the column is displayed logically in queries?

I don't want to mess with the physical layout of columns on disk, but I would like to logically group columns together when possible so that tools like SQL Server Management Studio list the contents of the table in a convenient way.

I know that I can do this through SQL Management Studio by going into their "design" mode for tables and dragging the order of columns around, but I'd like to be able to do it in raw SQL so that I can perform the ordering scripted from the command line.

sql-server
8 Answers

You can not do this programatically (in a safe way that is) without creating a new table.

What Enterprise Manager does when you commit a reordering is to create a new table, move the data and then delete the old table and rename the new table to the existing name.

If you want your columns in a particular order/grouping without altering their physical order, you can create a view which can be whatever you desire.

vzczc_2240

When Management Studio does it, it's creating a temporary table, copying everything across, dropping your original table and renaming the temporary table. There's no simple equivalent T-SQL statement.

If you don't fancy doing that, you could always create a view of the table with the columns in the order you'd like and use that?

Edit: beaten!

user_1920

If I understand your question, you want to affect what columns are returned first, second, third, etc in existing queries, right?

If all of your queries are written with SELECT * FROM TABLE - then they will show up in the output as they are laid out in SQL.

If your queries are written with SELECT Field1, Field2 FROM TABLE - then the order they are laid out in SQL does not matter.

Otto_5190

It can be done using SQL, by modifying the system tables directly. For example, look here:

Alter table - Add new column in between

However, I would not recommend playing with system tables, unless it's absolutely necessary.

Milan_Babukov_146900
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