The AS clause on a column definition is optional so the parser is trying to alias your column name as "top" when you don't have the AS clause in place.
I always put the TOP keyword right after the SELECT. This should work: SELECT TOP 5 hip_no, amount, name horse FROM stnhorse WHERE amount <> 0 AND SUBSTR(hip_no,1,1) <> "R" ORDER BY hip_no desc -- rk -----Original Message----- From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of James Harvey Sent: Wednesday, May 16, 2012 11:39 AM To: [email protected] Subject: select question This select generates an error message "Command contains unrecognized phrase/keyword". SELECT hip_no, amount, name top 5 FROM stnhorse WHERE amount <> 0 AND SUBSTR(hip_no,1,1) <> "R" ORDER BY hip_no desc This select creates the cursor successfully. SELECT hip_no, amount, name as horse top 5 FROM stnhorse WHERE amount <> 0 AND SUBSTR(hip_no,1,1) <> "R" ORDER BY hip_no desc The only difference is the "name as horse" column designation before the Top 5 condition, why does this make the select run? James E Harvey _______________________________________________ Post Messages to: [email protected] Subscription Maintenance: http://leafe.com/mailman/listinfo/profox OT-free version of this list: http://leafe.com/mailman/listinfo/profoxtech Searchable Archive: http://leafe.com/archives/search/profox This message: http://leafe.com/archives/byMID/profox/DF1EEF11E586A64FB54A97F22A8BD0441D52D8336F@ACKBWDDQH1.artfact.local ** All postings, unless explicitly stated otherwise, are the opinions of the author, and do not constitute legal or medical advice. This statement is added to the messages for those lawyers who are too stupid to see the obvious.
