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Data & Analytics · Foundational

Table Alias

A short temporary name for a table in a query, used to qualify columns and required for self joins.

Definition

Table aliases (correlation names) reduce typing and remove ambiguity when the same column name appears in several joined tables. A self join needs them to distinguish the two copies of the table.

Example

SELECT e.Name, m.Name FROM Employees e JOIN Employees m ON e.ManagerID = m.EmpID;

Exam tip

An 'ambiguous column name' error is fixed by qualifying the column with a table alias.

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