Re: newbie : writing an efficient query

>
> select distinct(a1, a2) from t1 ... does not work.
> How do I write that query?
>

Jeez, I tried out the query without parantheses, and it worked!! This parantheses thing is a bit confusing. create table t1(a1 number, a2 number)
create table t2(a1 number, a2 number)

insert into t2 select (a1, a2) from t1 : does not work. Why? Does (a1, a2) return only one value (prob a1), when the insert stmt expects 2 values?

And why does 'primary key' construct require parantheses around the field even when the key is on just one field?  create table t1(aa number, primary key aa) : does not work.

On second thought the reason is not difficult to figure out but sometimes it does get confusing as to why a simple command is not working. Particularly the syntax requiring absence of parantheses in : select distinct(aa, bb) from t1 is quite confusing. Received on Fri Aug 04 2006 - 18:36:01 CDT