Q110906: PRB: SQL Invalid ORDER BY

Article: Q110906
Product(s): Microsoft FoxPro
Version(s): MS-DOS:2.5,2.5a,2.5b; WINDOWS:2.5,2.5a,2.5b,3.0
Operating System(s): 
Keyword(s): kberrmsg
Last Modified: 05-FEB-2000

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The information in this article applies to:

- Microsoft Visual FoxPro for Windows, version 3.0 
- Microsoft FoxPro for Windows, versions 2.5, 2.5a, 2.5b 
- Microsoft FoxPro for MS-DOS, versions 2.5, 2.5a, 2.5b 
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SYMPTOMS
========

When you are executing an SQL-SELECT statement with a UNION clause and an ORDER
BY clause, the error message "SQL Invalid ORDER BY" is generated if the ORDER BY
clause references a field name.In Visual FoxPro,the error is "SQL: Order by
Clause is Invalid". For example, this error will occur if you type the following
SELECT statements in the Command window:

       SELECT * FROM customer ;
            UNION ;
       SELECT * FROM customer_a ORDER BY cno

CAUSE
=====

This error message is the correct response according to page L3-872 of the
"Language Reference."

RESOLUTION
==========

To resolve this problem, replace the ORDER BY <character expression>
clause with an ORDER BY <numeric expression> clause, where the numeric
expression indicates the number of the column by which to order the output. Only
the final SELECT statement can have a ORDER BY clause.

The following example demonstrates the correct syntax:

      ** This example will order the output by the first output field
       SELECT * FROM customer ;
            UNION ;
       SELECT * FROM customer_a ORDER BY 1

Additional query words: VFoxWin FoxDos FoxWin

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Keywords          : kberrmsg 
Technology        : kbVFPsearch kbAudDeveloper kbFoxproSearch kbZNotKeyword3 kbFoxPro250DOS kbFoxPro250aDOS kbFoxPro250bDOS kbFoxPro250 kbFoxPro250a kbFoxPro250b kbVFP300
Version           : MS-DOS:2.5,2.5a,2.5b; WINDOWS:2.5,2.5a,2.5b,3.0

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