select clause not according to SQL standard - Mailing list pgsql-bugs

hi all!

i am using version 7.4.7/Debian of postgres.

as far as i understand the standard, the following situation should not
be possible. neither is it stated in the manual that the select is not
conforming to the standard.

i have the following data:

table L:
LNR     ORT     LCODE     MENGE
L1     Graz     A     1000
L2     Wien     C     500
L3     Wien     C     1500
L4     Linz     B     1000
L5     Graz     B     300


table P:
PNR     PNAME     ORT     PREIS
P1     Alpha     Wien     50.00
P2     Delta     Linz     95.00
P3     Sigma     Linz     75.00
P4     Omega     Wien     40.00


now the problem:

select l.ort;
gives:

ORT
Graz
Wien
Wien
Linz
Graz


select l.ort from p;
gives:

ORT
Graz
Wien
Wien
Linz
Graz
Graz
Wien
Wien
Linz
Graz
Graz
Wien
Wien
Linz
Graz
Graz
Wien
Wien
Linz
Graz



i know what it is doing, but still i feel this should be considered a
bug as this "feature" is very inviting to bugs in scripts. i asked
around and everybody seems very astounished by the results one gets here
from postgres.
please let me know if i am mistaken
i thank you 1000000 times for your excellent work! -> i am trying to
replace oracle with postgres at our university and the more
standard-compliant postgresql is, the better are my chances :-)


regs,
klaus