> > Given the title of the book is "Head First SQL" and not "Head First MySQL" > it probably isn't exclusively using syntax for MySQL. While SQL is a > standard the various SQL databases are not completely identical with the > syntax they support. This may be due to not completely conforming to the > standard, using different versions of the SQL standard, or that there is > not standard for that operation.
Hey, that's some good input. Thanks and makes total sense. I guess the reason I thought I could use that syntax is that the book uses MySQL for all it's examples and explains that it does so because MySQL is a free and open source version of SQL that's easy to install. But maybe you're right and they do depart into other syntaxes of SQL. I just don't know where they got that 'first, second, third, etc' version of the alter table syntax from. Definitely not sweatin' this detail tho, I am totally fine with what you showed me that works. Thanks again for your input! Tim On Sat, Jun 28, 2014 at 9:14 PM, Jesper Wisborg Krogh <my...@wisborg.dk> wrote: > Hi Tim, > > > -----Original Message----- > > From: Tim Dunphy [mailto:bluethu...@gmail.com] > > Sent: Sunday, 29 June 2014 10:09 > > To: Jesper Wisborg Krogh > > Cc: mysql@lists.mysql.com > > Subject: Re: alter table modify syntax error > > > > > > > > The syntax "sixth" is not a supported syntax. You should use the > > > syntax "AFTER <column_name>" where you replace <column_name> with > > the > > > column name you want to position the modified column after. > > > > > > Oh thanks. That's actually what I ended up doing after I got frustrated > with > > that error. I was following the book 'Head First SQL' which was > suggesting > > that you could do something like what this user was trying in this stack > > overflow thread: > > > > http://stackoverflow.com/questions/19175240/re-arranging-columns-in- > > mysql-using-position-keywords-such-as-first-second > > > > But the answer in that thread too suggests that this is wrong. So is the > Head > > First SQL book just referring to an outdated syntax that doesn't work > > anymore? I can't imagine that it never worked if it's in that book. But > hey ya > > never know! ;) > > Given the title of the book is "Head First SQL" and not "Head First MySQL" > it probably isn't exclusively using syntax for MySQL. While SQL is a > standard the various SQL databases are not completely identical with the > syntax they support. This may be due to not completely conforming to the > standard, using different versions of the SQL standard, or that there is > not standard for that operation. > > Best regards, > Jesper Krogh > MySQL Support > > > -- GPG me!! gpg --keyserver pool.sks-keyservers.net --recv-keys F186197B
