[Solved] Explanation of SQL table syntax for Microsoft Access DB [closed]

Question

The square brackets qualify the text within as a column name. They are required if someone, against recommendation, creates a column name the same as a reserved word. For example, if you have a column named Date, the following will error:

SELECT t.Date FROM Table1 t

In this case, you would need to qualify the column name with square brackets:

SELECT t.[Date] FROM Table1 t

It is HIGHLY recommended to just avoid using reserved words as column names. Additionally, if you want to alias a column name with spaces in the alias, square brackets are required:

SELECT t.MyDate AS [Invoice Date] FROM Table1 t

The * is the MS Access wildcard for the LIKE clause. It’s worth noting that Microsoft SQL Server uses the % as the wildcard.

Accepted Answer

The square brackets qualify the text within as a column name. They are required if someone, against recommendation, creates a column name the same as a reserved word. For example, if you have a column named Date, the following will error:

SELECT t.Date FROM Table1 t

In this case, you would need to qualify the column name with square brackets:

SELECT t.[Date] FROM Table1 t

It is HIGHLY recommended to just avoid using reserved words as column names. Additionally, if you want to alias a column name with spaces in the alias, square brackets are required:

SELECT t.MyDate AS [Invoice Date] FROM Table1 t

The * is the MS Access wildcard for the LIKE clause. It’s worth noting that Microsoft SQL Server uses the % as the wildcard.