Re: non-integer constant in ORDER BY: why exactly, and documentation? - Mailing list pgsql-general

I think the argument was that it's almost certainly a mistake, so we're
more helpful by throwing an error than by silently executing a query
that probably won't do what the user was expecting.  In this particular
example, it seems quite likely that the programmer meant "foo" (ie a
quoted column reference) and got the quote style wrong ...

I guess it depends what you mean by mistake.  In this case, here was the actual code involved:

            if ($GLOBALS['AG_DEMO_MODE']) {
                $label_field="'XXXXXX, XXX'";
            } else {
                $label_field= $object . '_name(' . $id_field . ')'; // e.g., client_name(client_id)
            }
           $op .= selectto('objectPickerPickList',$obj_opt )
            . do_pick_sql("SELECT $id_field AS value,$label_field AS label FROM " . $def['table'] . " ORDER BY $label_field")
           ...

So yes there are lots of workarounds (and thanks all for the suggestions), including for this case just "ORDER BY 2". And there surely are better ways to code this, but finding areas for potential improvement is a target-rich environment, and one usually in need of prioritization.  In this case, there's no reason the code above _couldn't_ have been adequately functional, had not some well-meaning software gotten in the way by trying to watch out for me... ;)

Then again, my personal Postgres score of times it has helped me versus times it has not is probably about 1.5 million to 7, so don't hear this as a giant grumble or complaint.  I really was more curious than anything...

Cheers,
Ken








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