← Back to context Comment by Exuma 10 hours ago Also just let me reference the damn alias in a group by, FUCK 4 comments Exuma Reply sbuttgereit 9 hours ago At least in PostgreSQL, both by alias and ordinal are possible: localhost(from SCB-MUSE-BOXX).postgres.scb.5432 [Sun Nov 16 12:02:15 PST 2025] > create table test (a_key integer primary key, a_group integer, a_val numeric); CREATE TABLE Time: 3.102 ms localhost(from SCB-MUSE-BOXX).postgres.scb.5432 [Sun Nov 16 12:02:25 PST 2025] > insert into test (a_key, a_group, a_val) values (1, 1, 5.5), (2, 1, 2.6), (3, 2, 1.1), (4, 2, 6.5); INSERT 0 4 Time: 2.302 ms localhost(from SCB-MUSE-BOXX).postgres.scb.5432 [Sun Nov 16 12:02:58 PST 2025] > select a_group AS my_group, sum(a_val) from test group by my_group; my_group | sum ----------+----- 2 | 7.6 1 | 8.1 (2 rows) Time: 4.124 ms localhost(from SCB-MUSE-BOXX).postgres.scb.5432 [Sun Nov 16 12:03:15 PST 2025] > select a_group AS my_group, sum(a_val) from test group by 1; my_group | sum ----------+----- 2 | 7.6 1 | 8.1 (2 rows) Time: 0.360 ms zX41ZdbW 7 hours ago I think it should be not only in GROUP BY, but in every context, e.g., inside expressions in SELECT, WHERE, etc. kermatt 8 hours ago PostgreSQL and DuckDB support this, which makes MSSQL feel like a dinosaur in context. mberning 10 hours ago Some do. It would also be nice to reference by ordinal number similar to order by. Very handy for quick and dirty queries. I can see the issue though that people start to lean on it too much.
sbuttgereit 9 hours ago At least in PostgreSQL, both by alias and ordinal are possible: localhost(from SCB-MUSE-BOXX).postgres.scb.5432 [Sun Nov 16 12:02:15 PST 2025] > create table test (a_key integer primary key, a_group integer, a_val numeric); CREATE TABLE Time: 3.102 ms localhost(from SCB-MUSE-BOXX).postgres.scb.5432 [Sun Nov 16 12:02:25 PST 2025] > insert into test (a_key, a_group, a_val) values (1, 1, 5.5), (2, 1, 2.6), (3, 2, 1.1), (4, 2, 6.5); INSERT 0 4 Time: 2.302 ms localhost(from SCB-MUSE-BOXX).postgres.scb.5432 [Sun Nov 16 12:02:58 PST 2025] > select a_group AS my_group, sum(a_val) from test group by my_group; my_group | sum ----------+----- 2 | 7.6 1 | 8.1 (2 rows) Time: 4.124 ms localhost(from SCB-MUSE-BOXX).postgres.scb.5432 [Sun Nov 16 12:03:15 PST 2025] > select a_group AS my_group, sum(a_val) from test group by 1; my_group | sum ----------+----- 2 | 7.6 1 | 8.1 (2 rows) Time: 0.360 ms
zX41ZdbW 7 hours ago I think it should be not only in GROUP BY, but in every context, e.g., inside expressions in SELECT, WHERE, etc.
kermatt 8 hours ago PostgreSQL and DuckDB support this, which makes MSSQL feel like a dinosaur in context.
mberning 10 hours ago Some do. It would also be nice to reference by ordinal number similar to order by. Very handy for quick and dirty queries. I can see the issue though that people start to lean on it too much.
At least in PostgreSQL, both by alias and ordinal are possible:
I think it should be not only in GROUP BY, but in every context, e.g., inside expressions in SELECT, WHERE, etc.
PostgreSQL and DuckDB support this, which makes MSSQL feel like a dinosaur in context.
Some do. It would also be nice to reference by ordinal number similar to order by. Very handy for quick and dirty queries. I can see the issue though that people start to lean on it too much.