Re: Select * with a function applied to one column

[Phillip Ward]

I completely disagree with your argument for retaining "select *".
As you've discovered, it gives you problems. It will continue to give you problems. It's a performance overhead (the database has to read its internal catalogs to work out which columns you need; can be slow, can be a bottleneck). What you get back can change.

Remember; it's not your database.
You only get to work with it from time to time. Other people will do as well.

Always specify the columns that you want in the order that you want them. Yes, it can be a lot of typing for little, visible benefit, but it is the better way to go.

All too often "Select *" goes hand in hand with sloppy, index-based column processing. If the columns are reordered, as DBAs are wont to do from time to time (mischievous little munchkins that we are), these applications crash and burn spectacularly.

Save yourself the heartache; wean yourself off the "Select *" habit.

Regards, Phill W.