> SELECT x, y, z FROM table1 ORDER BY 2; > SELECT x, y, z FROM table1 ORDER BY y; > ... > This is a standard SQL thing, apparently. It surprised me too > when I first found out about it (and had to fix SQLite to do it.)
Using an integer is generally deprecated. It was left in the std to avoid breaking old code. Aside from theoretical objections, consider potential practical problems, e.g., suppose you write a bunch of code using 'order by 5' and then someone decides to drop column 4. Regards, Kurt Welgehausen
