SQL Use alias in Where statement

Question

I wounder how I could use an alias in a where statement.

Example :

SELECT SUBSTRING(Column1, 1, 4) + SUBSTRING(Column1, 4, 3)  AS Col1
FROM MyTable
W         


        

Answer 1

You can use "having" instead of "where".

SELECT
    SUBSTRING(Column1, 1, 4) + SUBSTRING(Column1, 4, 3)  AS Col1
FROM
    MyTable
HAVING
    Col1 = 'MySearch'

Having do a "where" after execution of the query. Be careful to use it in the right conditions to have no performance problem.

Answer 2

Actually, using alias won't make your query any faster as SQL optimizer is not as dumb as you think, so I'd just repeat the SUBSTRING expression again.

Answer 3

I think it is not possible, but maybe you can take a look on Common Table Expressions over SQL 2005

Like this:

WITH MyCTE( Col1) AS
(
SELECT SUBSTRING(Column1, 1, 4) + SUBSTRING(Column1, 4, 3)  AS Col1
FROM MyTable
)
SELECT *
FROM MyCTE
WHERE Col1 = 'MySearch'

Answer 4

SELECT * FROM (
  SELECT SUBSTRING(Column1, 1, 4) + SUBSTRING(Column1, 4, 3)  AS Col1
  FROM MyTable
)
WHERE Col1 = 'MySearch'

(I know this works in Oracle, I believe it is standard SQL and would work in MSSQL.)