What Constitutes an Identifier

---

An identifier is the name of any object that resides in the catalog for a database, such as a table, column, constraint, index, trigger, stored procedure, function, etc. as well as any predefined ElevateDB objects such as a collation, module, etc.

Valid Identifiers

---

Identifiers may contain any non-symbolic or non-punctuation character in the ANSI character set, if using the ANSI character set with the current engine/session, or the lower 256 characters of the Unicode character set, if using the Unicode character set with the current engine/session. Identifiers cannot begin with a digit and must begin with a valid alphabetic character or underscore (_). Identifers may contain undercores (_), dashes (-), pound signs (#), and right and left parentheses (()), in addition to alpha-numeric characters. Identifiers can include spaces also, but if they do then the identifier must be enclosed in double-quotes (""). For example, the following SELECT statement contains a normal table identifier:

SELECT * FROM MyTable

However, the following SELECT statement contains a table name with embedded spaces:

SELECT * FROM "My Table"

and, therefore, must be enclosed in double-quotes.

Table Qualifiers

---

Table identifiers can optionally be prefaced with a database identifier and/or schema identifier. For example, the following SELECT statement contains a table identifier that has been prefaced with a database identifier:

SELECT * FROM MyDatabase.MyTable

Also, a table identifier can be prefaced with just a schema identifier:

SELECT * FROM Default.MyTable

Finally, a table identifier can be prefaced with both a database identifier and a schema identifier:

SELECT * FROM MyDatabase.Default.MyTable

See the System Information topic for more information on databases and schemas, including the default and information schemas.